Eye hospital hopes as government asks for business case
The Scottish Government has formally asked health bosses in Lothian to resubmit their proposal for a new eye hospital at Little France in the clearest sign yet that ministers will give the go-ahead for the project which they effectively cancelled six months ago.
The government told NHS Lothian in December that it was "not in a position to fund a new eye hospital now or in the foreseeable future" despite agreeing in principle to the plan in 2018.
Following a public outcry and cross-party calls for a rethink, Nicola Sturgeon said during the election campaign she would after all fund a replacement for the capital's no-longer-fit-for-purpose Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion.
Now staff at the Eye Pavilion havebeentoldthegovernment has requested that the business case for the new hospital be updated and resubmitted.
In a memo sent out on Friday, site director Aris Tyrothoulakis said: "We just received notification from Scottish Government this week that we should update our Outline Business Case (OBC) and resubmit it to the Scottish Capital Investment Group for consideration at its August meeting. If the case is supported there, then we will be allowed to progress to the Full Business Case stage.
"As per the original case, the updated proposal will describe the requirement for a new-build Eye Hospital in Edinburgh."
The government request comes after an external review of eyecare services, commissioned by NHS Lothian following the refusal of funding in December, backed the case for a new hospital.
Ministers had originally
urged the dispersal of services across the region, but the report by Buchan & Associates highlighted the importance of a “centre of excellence” and the benefits of locating different eyecare services on one site, as well as the need to bring together care, training and research as would happen with a new hospital next to the Bioquarter at Little France.
Jim Crombie, deputy chief executive of NHS Lothian, said: “We shared the findings of the report with Scottish Government and have now been asked to re-submit the Outline Business Case to the next meeting of the national Capital Investment Group, which takes place in August. We are now progressing this important case with our outstanding ophthalmology clinical and leadership teams.”
One insider said: "Public and
professional pressure on the government during the election campaign pushed the First Minister into agreeing to look again at this vital part of Lothian healthcare provision. And this announcement represents tacit acceptance from the government that the future of ophthalmology services in Lothian depends upon a fit-for-purpose full replacement of the Eyepavilion,andnotpiecemeal dispersal of services across the region.”
Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs welcomed the news and said he hoped the new hospital could now progress quickly. "We don't want to slow this down by starting from scratch. Nothing has fundamentally changed and significant amountsofmoneyhavealready been spent, so I hope this is the startoffast-trackingtheproject."