John Swinney challenged at FMQs on September 19, 2024, over NHS Lothian decision to close Edinburgh's Eye Pavilion for 6 months for urgent repairs. Miles Briggs highlights Scottish Government failure to build a replacement hospital despite the Eye Pavilion being declared not fit for purpose i 2014.
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00:00On Tuesday, NHS Lothian announced that urgent major repair works will have to be undertaken
00:07on the Princess Alexandra eye pavilion. All patient appointments scheduled from 28 October
00:13will be moved, and it is now expected to be six months before the hospital can reopen.
00:19In 2014, the current eye pavilion was declared not fit for purpose. There is now real anger
00:24at the latest situation, which demonstrates yet again the need for a new eye hospital.
00:30Ministers need to take responsibility. They have cancelled a new hospital on two occasions.
00:35Will the First Minister meet campaigners and cross-party MSPs to get the replacement hospital
00:41back on track?
00:46I appreciate the anxiety that will be felt because of the issues in relation to the eye
00:51pavilion in Edinburgh. We expect the health board to work to ensure that there is no diminution
01:02of the service and the support that is available to patients to ensure that they can have their
01:08needs met.
01:09Obviously, there are capital funding pressures, which the Government is wrestling with. Mr
01:15Briggs will be familiar with all the statements that have been made by the finance secretary
01:20about the reduction in capital expenditure that has taken place. That has had a consequential
01:26effect on our ability to afford projects, combined with the significant increase in
01:31construction costs that has arisen because of sky-high inflation. Those are the realities
01:36that we are wrestling with.
01:37I assure Mr Briggs that the Government is doing everything that we possibly can to deliver
01:43that capital programme, but we cannot deliver it as timidly as we would like because of
01:50the effect of inflation and the cuts to the capital budget. I assure him that the Government
01:55is focused on finding solutions to those challenging issues.