Final hurdle cleared for new Royal Victoria

WORK is set to begin on a £44 million hospital for the elderly after it cleared the final stage of planning.

The new Royal Victoria hospital will be built alongside the Western General and is due to open by 2012.

It will replace the ageing structure a short distance away in the west of the city.

The former Paderewski building, which was home to the Polish School of Medicine between 1941 and 1949, has been pulled down to make way for both the hospital and a new car park.

NHS Lothian's director of strategic planning and modernisation Jackie Sansbury said: "We are delighted that the final stage of planning has now been completed and we can start building this state-of-the-art facility."