Sick Kids given a new prescription

REVISED plans for the new Sick Kids Hospital will see it increase in size by a quarter and create a link to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

The deal to have an adjoining 50 million brain unit is also back on - a year after NHS Lothian was forced to ditch the plan when government funding was pulled.

Although funding for the hospital at Little France has yet to be worked out, the health board has formally notified the council that it will be submitting a planning application in the coming months.

That will include the addition of the department of clinical neurosciences (DCN), a 1000sq ft extension and the relocation of Little France's helipad.

Senior health chiefs believe the project can still be completed by 2015, although the project is more or less back to the drawing board.

The deal with architects and builders has been scrapped, with the contracts going out to tender once the health board and the Scottish Futures Trust work out where the 300m is going to come from to build both facilities.

Basic designs will remain in place, but under the new proposals the buildings will be linked-up with the accident and emergency department at the ERI, and the hospital's helipad will be shifted to allow access to both hospitals.

The key for health chiefs was to secure a new brain unit to replace the existing DCN at the Western General, which is cramped, ageing and not fit for purpose.

It also means for the first time in Edinburgh brain surgery for children and adults will be on the same site, a Scottish Government recommendation to ensure that area of healthcare is world class.

Brian Currie, project director for NHS Lothian, said: "We are committed to delivering our new hospital as quickly as possible. Our design team is working on a reference design for a combined DCN and hospital for children and young people at Little France.

"This will build on the work that has already been done.

"We anticipate that we will be making an application for planning permission in principle in the coming months."

The current Sick Kids Hospital is in urgent need of an upgrade. But since it was announced in 2008 that a new hospital would be built, it has been dogged by controversy.

Last year, the charity established to raise 15m for equipment was closed down after making a seven-figure loss.

Then the Scottish Government decided against publicly funding it.

A health board source said: "The last date for operation mentioned was mid-2015, but I can't see how this is possible.

"We don't even know where the money is going to come from yet."

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