New opening date for Edinburgh's children's hospital

The new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People is at Little France

Edinburgh's sick children's hospital is to open in two weeks' time after delays of more than a year and a half.

Officials said the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP) would be fully open by Tuesday 23 March.

Most outpatient services have already made the switch to the new site next to the Royal Infirmary.

The remaining children's services - including accident and emergency - will also move from the current building at Sciennes by 23 March.

The £150m facility will be a year and eight months later than scheduled.

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The new facility had been due to open in July 2019, but Health Secretary Jeane Freeman halted the move after concerns about the building.

Final compliance checks revealed the ventilation system in the critical care department did not meet the necessary standards.

The issues, along with concerns about safety issues at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, prompted an independent inquiry into the planning, design and commissioning of both buildings.

In May last year, the health secretary told the Scottish Parliament that work on the Edinburgh hospital was expected to be completed by 25 January.

The new hospital will provide care for children and young people

However, in January, an engineering team working on the project was forced to self-isolate for two weeks after a Covid outbreak.

Ms Freeman said: "I'm pleased to confirm that following rigorous checks and validation of remedial works, all remaining clinical services will move into the RHCYP."

She added: "The safety and well-being of all patients and their families has always been, and will remain our top priority, which is why I took the decision to postpone the move of services until we had assurance that these services could be delivered in the safest way possible."

The new hospital includes a children's emergency department, 242 beds, 10 theatres and wards, outdoor play areas and physical and mental health specialities in one place.

Mental health inpatient facilities and some outpatient services had previously moved to the new hospital earlier this year following the department of clinical neurosciences last July.

There are also outdoor play areas, an art and therapeutic design programme worth over £5m, a helipad and Ronald McDonald House and accommodation for families of paediatric patients.

There is inpatient bedside entertainment and public WiFi.