No upgrade for brain unit 'fit only for 60s'

A BRAIN treatment unit described as "fit for the 1960s" cannot be upgraded, despite being forced to remain at its present site for at least another four years.

NHS Lothian had geared up to move the unit from the Western General to Little France in time for 2012, but a series of Scottish Government funding blows mean it has to stay where it is until at least 2015.

It has now emerged that the health board does not have any money to upgrade the department of clinical neurosciences (DCN) until then, despite doctors saying it is not fit for purpose.

Sources described the building as "horrible" and far from ideal for patients or staff.

NHS Lothian board member Professor Alison Tierney said: "The accommodation at the DCN is outdated. If we are looking at 2015 for completion I think it's something that needs to be addressed."

Health board chairman Dr Charles Winstanley has recognised "the constraints of operating in a building designed for the needs of the 1960s".

NHS Lothian will carry out ongoing maintenance at the facility until it moves and is looking at ways to use theatre space in other parts of the Lothians to address problems accommodating patients at the current DCN.

It has long been recognised the building is past its best, but this was not a concern because the Scottish Government was expected to fund a new 50 million facility alongside the new Sick Kids Hospital planned for Little France. The proposed move has been affected by a three-year delay to the new Sick Kids and the health board being told it will now have to find the money for the new DCN itself.

The DCN caters not just for Lothians patients, but in some instances half the Scottish population.

Jackie Sansbury, chief operating officer for acute services for NHS Lothian, said: "We are working closely with our partners at the Scottish Government and the Scottish Futures Trust to explore the funding options that will allow us to build a new hospital for children and young people and DCN at Little France.

"While we are at the early stages of the project, we hope it will be completed in 2015.

"As with all of our hospitals, the current home of the DCN at the Western General Hospital undergoes regular maintenance to ensure the facilities remain fit-for-purpose."