Questions 'remain unanswered' over hospital delay

The new hospital had been due to open in autumn 2017

A spending watchdog has said the "checks and balances" failed on a project to build a children's hospital.

Edinburgh's new children's hospital did not open in July as planned after issues with the ventilation were uncovered.

A new Audit Scotland report said a string of questions about what went wrong remained unanswered.

The Scottish government has called a public inquiry to examine safety and wellbeing issues at the new facility

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Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, said this probe should consider issues with other public building projects.

She said: "It's clear that the checks and balances around the construction of the new children's hospital didn't work, and the public inquiry may want to consider why that happened after similar issues had emerged around the building of schools in Edinburgh.

"It would also be beneficial to understand the role played by all the parties involved, and to explore why the issues that emerged at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth hospital didn't prompt greater scrutiny in Edinburgh."

The new hospital will provide care for children and young people

Repayments for the hospital building - the equivalent of about £1.4m a month - started when NHS Lothian moved into the hospital in February and are continuing despite the facility's planned July opening being postponed after issues with the ventilation were uncovered.

Audit Scotland said remedying the problems at the new hospital site, and keeping the existing building open, could cost NHS Lothian an additional £28m.

The problems at the new hospital promoted an internal NHS review and one by consultancy firm KPMG, a move which cost the taxpayer £500,000 in total.

Audit Scotland said the report by KPMG "sets out a picture of human error and confusion over interpretation of the relevant specifications and guidance and missed opportunities to spot and rectify that error".

The spending watchdog added it was also unclear why original papers for the construction of the new hospital were "inconsistent" with technical standards covering ventilation systems - and why this environmental matrix document was later changed.

"At this stage key questions remain unanswered," it said.

The spending watchdog said the "the effectiveness of the oversight and scrutiny of the project" should be considered by the public inquiry.

The new hospital has faced a number of delays

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: "As I announced last month, the Rt Hon Lord Brodie will chair this independent public inquiry, which will help us learn lessons from recent issues so they are not repeated in the future.

"I have a statutory obligation to consult with the chair on the inquiry's terms of reference and I will provide a further update to Parliament early in the new year.

"In the meantime, NHS Lothian continue to provide high quality care from the existing sites, and I want to thank staff, patients and their families for their continued patience as we work to migrate services to the new site as soon as it is safe to do so."