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| Public funds boost for hospital | Public funds boost for hospital |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The most expensive hospital to be built in Scotland will be funded by the Scottish Government. | The most expensive hospital to be built in Scotland will be funded by the Scottish Government. |
| Public Health Minister Shona Robison said that £842m would be spent "completely redeveloping" the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. | |
| The new building will incorporate a state of the art children's hospital. | |
| NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will fund about a third of the cost of the project, but the bulk, £552m, will be provided by the Scottish Government. | NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will fund about a third of the cost of the project, but the bulk, £552m, will be provided by the Scottish Government. |
| Ms Robison announced the funding details on Tuesday morning. | |
| She said: "In considering the options for funding this project, the Scottish Government has sought to ensure that the project is deliverable, affordable, sustainable and represents best value for money for the taxpayer." | |
| The SNP administration has in the past criticised the use of Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) to fund public sector building projects, a policy followed by the previous Labour-Lib Dem coalition. | |
| Under PFI, and its "public private partnership" (PPP) successor, a private sector consortium designs, builds and finances a health institution, which is then rented back to the health board, which is charged for the running costs. | |
| Shona Robison announced the funding details | |
| Alex Salmond had promised to introduce not-for-profit trusts as an alternative to PFI, but the SNP's manifesto made it clear that councils and other public bodies would be able to choose how to fund building projects - leaving private finance open as an option. | |
| The Southern General project plans to deliver an adult hospital with 1,109 beds and a 240-bedded children's hospital by 2014. | |
| The development would signal the end of acute services at Glasgow's Western Infirmary and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill. | |
| In-patient acute services would also be transferred from the city's Victoria Infirmary. | |
| NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recommended public funding over private in its case to the Scottish Government. | |
| Its chairman, Andrew Robertson, said the Scottish Government's approval of the project was "truly historic" for the NHS in Scotland. | |
| "Our proposals for the new campus represent the largest investment in health services ever undertaken in Scotland," he added. | |
| "It will see Glasgow become home to the largest, most advanced single NHS development in Scotland. | |
| "Investment in the new hospitals and maternity unit, together with the new laboratory facility will transform the experience of healthcare for patients and staff alike." | |
| 'New life' | |
| He also claimed the building programme would "breathe new life into Govan and the wider area". | |
| "Without doubt the biggest single factor in the regeneration of the area is this development boosting wealth, business opportunities, local jobs plus transport and environmental improvements," he said. | |
| Donald Sime, the health board's employee director, said the fact that the hospital would be publicly funded was "terrific news for both patients and NHS staff". | |
| "The joint trades unions are delighted that the Scottish Government has agreed to fund this major hospital build by public procurement," he said. | |
| "Other funding routes could have meant NHS staff tendering for the opportunity to provide services such as catering, cleaning and other support services. | |
| "However, this confirmation of public funding now ensures that the new hospital campus will be run and managed by the full NHS team." | |
| Glasgow City Council has already granted outline planning permission for the development. |