New £32 million National Treatment Centre delayed again as NHS Highland confirms first patients will not be seen before April but it 'cannot rule out' the facility at Inverness Campus might open later than that
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FURTHER delays to the completion of the new £32 million National Treatment Centre mean it will not welcome its first patient until April next year – at the earliest.
But NHS Highland bosses admitted they “cannot rule out” that the opening of the facility at Inverness Campus could be pushed back further.
The health board blames the delay on trouble getting plasterboard and roofing materials, finalising the theatre layouts including positioning equipment and the impact of Covid infection and isolation periods on productivity.
The centre is key to reducing waiting times and relieving some of the strain on the city’s Raigmore Hospital which has been under enormous pressure since before the start of the pandemic.
The facility will have 24 beds, five operating theatres, 13 consulting rooms – including four for virtual consultations to perform “uncomplicated” hip, knee, hand, foot, and ankle surgery – as well as a full range of ophthalmic care. An extra 210 staff will be recruited for the centre.
In a report to next week’s board meeting, NHS Highland’s director of strategic commissioning Deborah Jones said: “The construction programme has been impacted by events such as material supply constraints, absence of sub-contractor operatives due to Covid-19 isolations since June 2021 and completion of detailed theatre designs.
“It is now apparent that the contract completion date will not be achieved, and a new contract completion date will be agreed with Balfour Beatty.
“Efforts to mitigate the impact of delays have managed to reduce the overall impact of the delays however the forecast completion date is now December 9, 2022 and it is unlikely that this date will be improved upon.
“This delay will have an impact on the clinical transition plan, and the ‘first patient treated’ is now expected to be April 3, 2023. There remains considerable pressures in the construction industry, relating to the delivery of materials which are challenging to mitigate.”
She added: “While every effort will be made to deliver against the revised programme of works, there are significant activities to be undertaken and as such we cannot rule out the potential for further programme slippage between now and the forecast completion date.”
Construction of the facility started in summer 2020.
Regional Tory MSP Edward Mountain said: “This news will bring bitter disappointment to the 2500 orthopaedic patients waiting for treatment in the Highlands.
“Despite recent assurances that I received from NHS Highland that the facility would be completed this October, it now appears that this is another myth – just like the one which suggested it would initially be open in August 2021.
“A delay of two years is already unacceptable and, even worse, further delays aren’t being ruled out.
“Patients need this facility now, more than ever, and both NHS Highland and the Scottish Government must take urgent action to get this build back on schedule.”
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