Alex Cole-Hamilton presses Scottish Government on Sick Kids delay
Edinburgh Western MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton questioned the Cabinet Secretary for Health today at Parliament about when we can expect the move in to the new Sick Kids Hospital to be completed. Today, she told him that the revised date of the end of January is now set for March 23rd. The opening of the new Sick Kids' was cancelled just days before patients were set to arrive in July 2019. The Health Secretary announced last autumn that the move would be put back again, with final building works to be completed by 25 January 2021.
Commenting after the exchange in the chamber, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:
“I really hope this long and sorry saga is to come to an end soon with no further surprises or delays. The Health Secretary cautiously told me she expected all departments to move over towards the end of March, I have written to her to ask when each department will move in that timeframe. It also was unclear whether the Government will be handing over the old site at Sciennes building during the pandemic. It seems a reasonable suggestion to me to consider keeping this potential extra capacity for hospital beds whilst Covid-19 is putting so much pressure on capacity.
“It has been a stressful time for patients and their families feeling uncertain about where they will receive treatment for the past few years. There is a lot for the public inquiry to examine in this project and I hope the lessons will be learnt so we don’t see delays and mistakes like this again, in Lothian or anywhere in Scotland.”
You can watch a video clip of the exchange in the chamber here: https://www.facebook.com/alexcolehamiltonMSP