The Inquiry’s Remit and Terms of Reference require it to investigate a number of issues arising from the planning, design, construction, commissioning and where appropriate maintenance of two recently constructed hospital buildings. These are the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus in Glasgow (QEUH) and the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh (RHCYP/DCN).
The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow
The QEUH is located at 1345 Govan Road, Glasgow, the site of the former Southern General Hospital. It is under the management and control of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The construction of the QEUH began in 2011 and concluded in early 2015. It began to receive patients in April of that year and was officially opened on 3 July 2015. The adult hospital is within the same building as the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), although the functions of the two hospitals are separate and they have separate entrances. The hospitals have physical links to other buildings on the campus. The adult hospital has 1109 beds in en-suite single side rooms. The RHC has 256 beds. Particular issues have arisen in relation to Wards 2A and 2B at the RHC which accommodated the Schiehallion Unit for the treatment of paediatric haemato-oncological patients. Wards 2A and 2B in the RHC were closed in September 2018 and patients moved to Ward 6A in the adult hospital. Wards 2A and 2B currently remain closed.
The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Edinburgh
The RHCYP site includes both the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN). It is located on the campus at Little France, close to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. It is under the management and control of NHS Lothian. The RHCYP replaced the now closed Royal Hospital for Sick Children, 9 Sciennes Road, Edinburgh.
NHS Lothian entered into an agreement for the construction of the RHCYP/DCN in February 2015. The originally scheduled date for completion was 5 July 2017. Due to various difficulties that date was postponed. A date for opening the hospital was eventually fixed for 9 July 2019. However, late in June 2019 issues were identified with the air ventilation system at the hospital and on 4 July 2019 the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport announced that the opening, fixed for 9 July, was to be postponed. The DCN has opened to receive patients. The RHCYP opened on 23 March 2021.