Milestone for new Royal Edinburgh Hospital plans
Approval for first phase of 10-year redevelopment scheme
The redevelopment of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital (REH) campus has taken a major step forward with the approval of the initial agreement.
The green light, given by the Scottish Government’s Capital Investment Group, paves the way for work to begin on the outline business case (OBC) – a crucial stage in the planning process.
The OBC will focus on Phase One of the project, which will cover the adult acute mental health inpatient service and the intensive psychiatric care service (IPCU).
David Small, chairman of the REH stakeholder board, NHS Lothian, said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have got to this exciting stage, which is down to a lot of hard work by our staff and members of the project’s stakeholder board. The project aims to deliver the latest, modern inpatient accommodation providing high-quality patient care. Work on the outline business case begins immediately and will continue for several months. It will also include drawing up a masterplan for the whole site.”
Dick Fitzpatrick, NHS Lothian’s project manager for the redevelopment, added: “I am extremely pleased to have reached this important milestone in the redevelopment of the hospital campus. I am also pleased this will be one of the first major projects to be supported by the Ready for Business consortium through the Developing Markets for Third Sector Providers programme. This aims to help us explore and maximise opportunities to deliver community benefits.”
The Royal Edinburgh Hospital will be redeveloped on its existing site over a number of phases spanning the next 10 years. The redevelopment will also consider the inclusion of potential services on other hospital sites such as Astley Ainslie Hospital.
