Multiplex’s delayed Edinburgh hospital finally set for completion

A timeline for the completion of Multiplex’s delayed Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) has been released after a final works plan with the contractor was agreed.

The plan sets out the timeline for remedial and enhancement
work, including changes to the ventilation system, which is due to be completed
by 25 January 2021.

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The £150m Royal Hospital for Children and Young People
(RHCYP) was originally supposed to open in 2017 before problems with
ventilation and drainage were discovered in the building, which the Scottish
government has blamed on human error in the 2012 tender documents.

The error was reported to relate to a spreadsheet on the specifications for air flow in critical care rooms and was only uncovered when the hospital was handed over to NHS Lothian and independent checks were carried out.

The new hospital started hosting some outpatient
appointments in July while £16m worth of remedial work has been carried out.

Susan Goldsmith, NHS Lothian finance director and executive lead
for the project, said: “Despite the challenges that covid-19 has presented
us with, the teams have done an incredible job in continuing to drive this
project forward. I am delighted to have received a date by which the building
works will be completed.”

A public inquiry into the problems at RHCYP – also known as
the Sick Kids hospital – and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow
is still ongoing.