Untitled Document

More money needed for children’s hospital

Your Letters

December 21 2006

This is a personal letter written by a concerned clinician. Thankfully, two years ago the Health Minister, Malcolm Chisholm, despite other less-than satisfactory proposals put on the table, wisely committed £100m towards the building of a new children's hospital in Glasgow. It was to be based in an adult hospital site, so that there could be "tripartite co-location" of paediatric, maternity and adult acute hospital services, thus providing the safest and best care for all patients, whether mothers or children. The decision was then made to place the "new Yorkhill" on the Southern General site, next to the maternity wing.
We are now at the planning stages, looking at the requirements for the new build, and as a senior clinician I, along with many others of all disciplines, am involved in looking at the clinical needs – eg, number of beds, ward spaces, theatres, A&E, clinics, etc. It is becoming clear that there is a wide gap between the finances available and the building of a hospital that is of world-standard for the care of our children. We are repeatedly being reminded that finance is tight and, in particular, that we need to reduce our thoughts on bed-numbers, clinical space and facilities, etc.
While there is a change in clinical practice leading to increased day-case surgery and community-based care, and rightly so, we are also faced with the fact that the new hospital will be taking adolescents up to the age of 16 years (at present up to 13 years). The current estimate is that this will increase our work in terms of patient-numbers by around 12%-15%. So, any changes in practice will be counter-balanced by the increase in workload as a result of changing the upper age-limit to 16 years.
It is clear:
1. We must continue to look at better/more efficient ways of working
2. We must take into account finance, and make the best use of what is available
3. There is not an open-ended budget, and we must use our resources wisely.
4. Apart from capital costs, there are annual revenue costs to be built in.
However, it is also true:
1. Yorkhill is the largest children's hospital in Scotland
2. It has many services that are national, serving patients from all over Scotland
3. £100m at present prices will not be nearly enough to build a hospital of world-standard.
4. The judgments of clinicians and other staff regarding the planned clinical requirements are being significantly challenged on the basis of the financial restraints in place.
I don't think there is any NHS hospital ever built in which the number of beds and clinical space required was overestimated. Almost every hospital, if not every one, had to have further building work carried out to fulfil the initial purpose.
All of this is not a criticism, it is merely a fact. The budget is extremely tight, as we are regularly advised.
The question is: do the people of Scotland wish a world-class hospital allowing world-class care for their children? If the answer is "yes" then we need a greater financial package. I don't have the answers, but surely between the SEHD, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and the people of Scotland there must be an answer. We all bear responsibility to be part of that answer. I am also aware that there are plans being drawn up for a new children's hospital in Edinburgh. They, too, need our support.
My appeal is this, for our future generations' sakes: let's not scrimp and save on a vital development when we have the chance to make a real and lasting difference. Will someone somewhere take this up? I have nothing personal to gain from this, as I shall be retired long before the new hospital is built. This is not for me – it is for our children.
Alasdair H B Fyfe, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, The Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow.

Reproduced with permission from The Herald (Glasgow) Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd © Newsquest Media Group Ltd.