NHS Lothian Gets the Keys for New Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh

That the Parliament welcomes that the official handover of the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, to NHS Lothian; acknowledges that the new Sick Kids hospital at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary will be Scotland’s largest children’s hospital; notes that the formal signing of papers means the anticipated opening date is 15 July 2019, with patients and services being moved in a sequence during the 10 days prior; recognises that, during the five-month commissioning period, the building will be fully resourced to transform it into a fully functioning state-of-the-art hospital; appreciates that the new hospital will house 62 departments from the existing Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Sciennes in Edinburgh, the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, which moves across the city from the Western General Hospital, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which relocate from the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Morningside; further appreciates that there is also home-from-home accommodation for families provided by Ronald McDonald House Charity; understands that the largest commissioned art and therapeutic design programme in Europe will also be on display in the new hospital, provided by over £5 million of charitable funding, and thanks the great many people involved for their hard work to get to this stage.