Architect offers to list hospital design flaws
● Expert who warned of issues says political pressure to blame
A senior architect involved in Edinburgh’s delayed new children’s hospital is offering to provide health secretary Jeane Freeman with a list of all the design flaws he knows about so they can be addressed before patients move in.
Robert Menzies claimed problems were “built into” the £150 million new hospital because political pressure to avoid further delays meant those in charge of the project were not willing to take time to make changes.
Among the problems he highlighted were a failure to include a larger lift to accommodate orthopaedic patients needing to be moved with equipment, a child protection suite with a corridor separating two rooms intended to have a one-way mirror between them and classroom doors too narrow for beds to get through.
The opening of the hospital at Little France, due to take place earlier this month, was postponed indefinitely after it was found the ventilation system in the critical care unit did not meet national standards. Ms Freeman has ordered extensive checks, including on the new building’s ventilation, water and drainage systems.
But Mr Menzies, who has 40 years’ experience building hospitals, said when he warned of issues in other areas of the building he was ignored or overruled.
“I witnessed a decision-making process which repeatedly placed the need to meet deadlines ahead of patient safety,” he said.
Mr Menzies said he had warned the “reference” design for the hospital – drawn up with clinicians to let those bidding for the hospital contract know what was required – needed an additional three months’ work to make it viable, but that was refused because “a further delay was politically unacceptable”.
He said an insistence on sticking rigidly to the reference design when it had not been properly finalised led to lots of problems.
Susan Goldsmith, finance director and former acting chief executive of NHS Lothian, said: “The disappointing current delay to the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and Department of Clinical Neurosciences and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service has been caused by issues that are completely unrelated to any of the points made by Mr Menzies.
“The delay is caused by a problem with ventilation in critical care, which was identified during the final checks.
“Further tests are being carried out in all clinical areas and in a further sample of general areas to gain additional assurance that the required standards are met.”