The new Sick Kids at Little France will open on 15 July 2019, and today the keys were handed over to NHS Lothian.
The new £150 million hospital will be Scotland’s largest children’s hospital, and has a long name too. It will be known as the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
The health board has announced that patients and services will be moved in what they describe as a ‘well choreographed sequence’ beginning on Friday 5t July.
During a short event this morning children from Craigour Park Primary School, Moredun, Edinburgh were invited to mark the construction milestone.
Jim Crombie, Deputy Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be moving in the summer. It has taken hard work from a great many people to get to this stage and I am thrilled that we now have possession of the building and can begin to make it ready to receive its first patients.
“It has undeniably been a long road but we have been very clear from the outset that we wanted the best facility possible for patients, families and staff and that is what they shall get. Huge thanks go to everyone for their extraordinary patience and commitment to this vision”.
There is now a five month commissioning period during which the building with be fully fitted out and transformed into a fully functioning state of the art hospital.
Janice Mackenzie, Clinical Director on the reprovision project said: “The commissioning period is really important. Everything from furniture to sophisticated high tech equipment needs to be delivered, installed, and tested. Staff orientation and training is also a vital part of this process and they are eager to get going. It’s going to be an exciting time.”
The new hospital will have 62 departments all moved from the existing Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Sciennes. The Department of Clinical Neurosciences moves across the city from the Western General Hospital and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services will relocate from the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Morningside.
The largest commissioned Art and Therapeutic Design programme in Europe will also be on display in the new hospital, provided by over £5million of charitable funding. There is also home-from-home accommodation for families provided by Ronald McDonald House Charity.
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