Next phase of Sick Kids hospital move set for January with transfer of mental health services

The next phase of the move of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, commonly known as the Sick Kids, will take place in January.

The new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP)

NHS Lothian’s inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are set to move to their new home at the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Little France in the middle of the month.

It comes after the first teams delivering outpatient children’s services moved to the £150 million site in mid July, including fracture clinics, physiotherapy services and post-surgery follow-up appointments.

The Scottish Government announced in September that the building would be completed on January 25, after decades of delays.

It will be handed over to NHS Lothian at the end of January, when a period of commissioning will begin to install equipment, train staff and carry out final checks.

Susan Goldsmith, NHS Lothian Director of Finance and Executive Lead on the Re-provision Project gave an update at a meeting of the Board of NHS Lothian on Wednesday.

Ms Goldsmith said: “We are really excited to be moving CAMHS into its new, purpose built home next month. It has been designed carefully with the input of patients and their families and with their needs in mind.“It will provide patients and staff alike with a safe, comfortable and pleasant environment conducive to high quality treatment and care.”

The new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, which was originally due to open in winter 2012, has been plagued by delays and setbacks over the course of nearly a decade.

Problems included financial difficulties, bad weather and a serious flood after a hot water pipe burst over night.

The hospital was finally due to open in July 2019, but the move was cancelled at the last minute by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman after final inspections revealed the ventilation system in critical care did not meet national standards.

Further checks on the building revealed issues with drainage, water, electrical and fire systems.

The opening date was delayed until November 23 2020, but this was put back again as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.