A major publicly-funded hospital building project to transform hospital services in Glasgow and the West of Scotland was today given final approval.
The full business case for the £842 million new South Glasgow Hospitals – which will see an integrated children’s and adult hospital built on the site of the current Southern General – has been approved by the Scottish Government.
With 1,109 beds, the adult hospital will sit alongside a 256 bed children’s hospital, providing maternity, paediatric and acute services on a single site.
Public Health Minister Shona Robison said:
“The new South Glasgow Hospitals is Scotland’s biggest ever hospital building project and will be entirely publicly-funded. It’s great news for people throughout the West of Scotland that this important project has been given the final go-ahead.
“Providing services for all ages on a single site will ensure patients can access the widest possible range of specialist services and will also bring with it increased efficiency, shorter waiting times and better continuity of care.
“This will be the largest single investment in Scottish health services and will transform healthcare for patients and staff. In the current economic climate, this significant investment is a clear signal that the Scottish Government is continuing to prioritise spending on our NHS to improve patient care.”
Robert Calderwood, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Chief Executive, said:
“I am delighted that the Scottish Government has approved the full business case for the New South Glasgow Hospitals project. The project will see us complete a programme of investment of more than £1.5 billion in modern healthcare accommodation across both acute and mental health facilities.
“Taken together these major strides forward, with the new South Glasgow Hospital at the centre, we will have the tools for the delivery of sustainable, high quality, cost effective healthcare for NHSGGC residents.”
Construction of the hospital is due to be completed in January 2015 and it will be fully operational by the summer of 2015.
The full business case for the South Glasgow Hospital project was approved by the Scottish Government’s Capital Investment Group (CIG) on December 10. All capital projects with a value of more than £5 million need CIG approval to proceed.
The adult hospital will provide acute in-patient care, some medical day cases and outpatient clinics. Day surgery will be carried out at the New Victoria Hospital. The children’s hospital will provide accident and emergency services as well as the full range of in-patient and day case paediatric services. A new laboratory will also be built, providing biochemistry, haematology, blood transfusion and mortuary services.
