South Glasgow University Hospital campus is handed over

Scotland's largest hospital - the new £842m South Glasgow University Hospital - has been officially handed over ahead of a planned opening in May.

It hosts the 1,109-bed South Glasgow University Hospital for adults and 256-bed Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

The campus replaces the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids at Yorkhill, the Southern General Hospital, Western and Victoria Infirmaries and Mansionhouse Unit.

The campus was delivered under budget and ahead of schedule.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the design was a move away from the traditional ward-based model.

The health board's chief executive, Robert Calderwood, said: "With the exception of critical care, all of the patient areas in the adult hospital are single en-suite rooms and all bedrooms have a full-length floor-to-ceiling windows on the outside wall to increase natural daylight but also to give the patient the opportunity to see out with the clinical environment.

"In the children's hospital 80% of the 256 beds are singe, en-suite, with parents' accommodation in the area."

What does new hospital mean for Glasgow?

The new campus is built on the site of the old Southern General in Govan in the south west of the city.

It will house a new 1,109-bed adult hospital and a 256-bed children's hospital.

There will also be a two major A&E departments - one for adults and one for children - a maternity hospital and state-of-the-art laboratory services.

Every patient in the general wards in the 14-floor hospital will have their own single room with an en-suite and views out across the campus.

Demolition of the old Southern General surgical block will begin in the summer and be completed by the middle of 2016.

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The new campus will bring major changes to the way healthcare is delivered across the west of Scotland - with maternity, children's and adult hospitals all on one site.

There will be space for 1,300 patients, mostly in single rooms, 29 operating theatres, and even a landing pad on the hospital roof, for rescue helicopters.

'Real achievement'

In addition to replacing adult hospitals in Glasgow, the new South Glasgow University Hospital will incorporate a new teaching and learning facility and the Centre for Stratified Medicine and clinical research facilities.

Timeline for transfer

• 24 April - Southern General outpatients, GP out-of-hours, therapy department and renal dialysis from the Western and Royal Infirmaries transfer to the new hospital

• 1 May - Southern General inpatients, emergency department, theatres, intensive therapy unit and high dependency unit transfer

• 8 May - Ear, nose and throat inpatients from Southern General and Gartnavel general relocate

• 9 May - Vascular and renal inpatients from the Western Infirmary

• 16 May - Over two weekends all inpatients from the old Victoria Infirmary and the Mansionhouse Unit will transfer

• 30 May - Inpatients and the emergency department at the Western Infirmary

• 6 June - Selected wards at Gartnavel General and the bone marrow trannsplant wards at the Beatson

• 10-14 June - The Royal Hospital for Sick Children will transfer to its new home

Up to 10,000 NHS staff will be based on the campus when it is fully operational.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "This is an exciting stage in the development of the new South Glasgow Hospital campus as we get ever closer towards completion of the project and welcoming patients into the facility.

"This development has been Scotland's biggest-ever hospital building project, so bringing this in ahead of time and under budget is a real achievement in itself.

"This major development will transform healthcare for patients and staff and I am very much looking forward to seeing the hospital campus up-and-running and welcoming patients in the summer."

Construction work on the hospital campus began in early 2011 and it has been the biggest building site in Scotland.

Building contractors, Brookfield Multiplex, have formally handed over control of the site to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.