Fear that growing delay could put young lives at risk

The gap between the closure of the Queen Mum’s maternity and the opening of a new children’s hospital to replace Yorkhill has widened to at least five years.

A replacement for Yorkhill is to be built at the New Southern General site but will not be ready now until at least 2015, while the maternity unit at the Queen Mum’s will close in January next year.

Earlier this year the Evening Times revealed how the gap which was initially only to be one year would be four years, sparking concern from paediatricians and politicians about the treatment of seriously ill babies.

Yesterday, in an answer to a parliamentary question, Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, said the main hospitals on the site would not now be completed until 2015.

However in April this year Ms Sturgeon said the building was due for completion in 2013 with the first patients treated in 2014.

Having the maternity, adult general and children’s services on one site was seen as the “gold standard” when it was decided to retain the link between children’s and maternity services which was the focus of the Evening Times-led campaign when it was announced the Queen Mother’s was to close.

It is feared that transferring new born babies through the Clyde Tunnel to Yorkhill in the interim carries risks, however the health board is satisfied the procedures to be put in place are safe.

Pauline McNeill, Glasgow Kelvin MSP, whose constituency includes the Yorkhill site and who was a supporter of the Evening Times campaign, feared further delays. She said: “The campaign was fought and won on the basis of preserving the life-saving link between the children’s and maternity services, and to be without it for so long is a major worry.”

Ms Sturgeon told Tory health spokesman Jackson Carlaw the cost of the hospital would still be within £841.7 million.

He said: “With delays and additional work being required surely it’s only a matter of time before the budget slips too?”

A Health Board spokeswoman said the timescale had changed because the original plan was for a “far smaller and less complex” campus.

She added: “We have taken time to design a ‘gold standard’ future-proofed and larger children’s hospital fully integrated with a more complex and developed maternity and adult hospital.

“We believe the clinical benefits outweigh the marginal delay in delivering this first-class hospital campus.”