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| Edinburgh Children's Hospital: Freeman 'overruled' opening | Edinburgh Children's Hospital: Freeman 'overruled' opening |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said she overruled NHS Lothian's plans to open the new children's hospital in Edinburgh next week. | Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said she overruled NHS Lothian's plans to open the new children's hospital in Edinburgh next week. |
| The £150m building in Little France was due to open on Tuesday but is now subject to indefinite delays. | The £150m building in Little France was due to open on Tuesday but is now subject to indefinite delays. |
| The decision not to open the landmark hospital came after last-minute inspections found safety concerns over its ventilation system. | The decision not to open the landmark hospital came after last-minute inspections found safety concerns over its ventilation system. |
| It is understood the health board had been considering a partial opening. | It is understood the health board had been considering a partial opening. |
| Ms Freeman has ordered an investigation into the problems with the new building and said patient safety had to come first. | Ms Freeman has ordered an investigation into the problems with the new building and said patient safety had to come first. |
| She told BBC radio's Good Morning Scotland: "NHS Lothian were looking at options, they had not made a decision about what they wanted to do. | She told BBC radio's Good Morning Scotland: "NHS Lothian were looking at options, they had not made a decision about what they wanted to do. |
| "I took the decision that it was not safe to open the hospital next week in any respect until I'd been assured for patient safety that every other area of that hospital met national standards." | "I took the decision that it was not safe to open the hospital next week in any respect until I'd been assured for patient safety that every other area of that hospital met national standards." |
| Asked if she had overruled the health board, Ms Freeman said: "Yes, I have." | Asked if she had overruled the health board, Ms Freeman said: "Yes, I have." |
| The health secretary said she was informed on Tuesday that the "final validation check" of the ventilation system in Critical Care was not meeting national standards. | The health secretary said she was informed on Tuesday that the "final validation check" of the ventilation system in Critical Care was not meeting national standards. |
| She said: "Because this was picked up so late I want to be sure that all other safety checks in the rest of the hospital are also conducted again. | She said: "Because this was picked up so late I want to be sure that all other safety checks in the rest of the hospital are also conducted again. |
| "The decision I took was that it was too great a risk." | "The decision I took was that it was too great a risk." |
| Same problems | |
| The new 233-bed hospital will form part of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh campus, providing care for children and young people to about 16 years of age. | The new 233-bed hospital will form part of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh campus, providing care for children and young people to about 16 years of age. |
| It had been due to open in 2017 but a series of problems pushed that back. | |
| The building shares the same design as the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow, which has also had problems with ventilation systems. | |
| Ms Freeman was asked in parliament last month if NHS Lothian had been assured that the same problems did not exist at the new site. | |
| The health secretary said NHS Lothian told her it would not take ownership of the building until it was "absolutely assured" those steps had been taken. | |
| She said she now needed to find out why the health board was so confident the hospital was meeting standards "when self-evidently in Critical Care it certainly wasn't". | |
| Ms Freeman said she had asked for an audit of the safety checking process so she could identify where the mistake had been made. | |
| She said: "There's no indication at this point that any fault lies with the contractors themselves." | |
| The health secretary said she did not know how long it would be before the hospital was opened. | |
| She said she should have the results of the additional safety checks "very soon". | |
| If everything was ok with the rest of the site, there could be a "phased move" of other units such as outpatient services and neurosciences. | |
| She said work was under way to identify what upgrade was needed to the ventilation system in Critical Care. | |
| It was "likely to take months rather than weeks" before Critical Care and the Emergency department could open, she said. | |
| Ms Freeman admitted that there could be difficulties with any move if it was delayed until the winter months. | |
| "At this point I can't say when Critical Care and the Emergency department will move into the new site," she said. | |
| Unison Scotland, which represents many NHS staff, expressed disappointment at the timing of the move. | |
| Thomas Waterson, chair of the union's Scottish health committee, said: "Obviously patient safety is paramount but if there are health and safety issues then the appropriate action was required long before this late stage. | |
| "The Scottish government has spent years planning this move, so to have further delays, particularly at this late stage, for health and safety is simply unacceptable." |