New treatment centre in Perth will cost £138m
Figure for unit at PRI soars from £35m
It has emerged the estimated cost of the state-of-the-art treatment centre at Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI) had soared from £35 million to £138 million and could rise further.
Last week the Scottish Government announced all new NHS building projects in Scotland were being put on hold due to budget pressures.
However a Perth and Kinross councillor has stressed it is a “postponement and not a cancellation” and looks forward to the Perth unit opening in the future.
Originally called the Tayside Elective Care Centre it had been scheduled to open later this year but has been beset with delays with the project initially hampered by the Covid pandemic.
Almond and Earn councillor Michelle Frampton - who sits on the Perth and Kinross Integration Joint Board - points the finger of blame at Westminster.
The SNP councillor said: “In regards to the Scottish Government pausing the National Treatment Centre at PRI, it is a paucity of Westminster funding to the Scottish Government, that has meant difficult decisions have had to be made.
“It should be stressed however that this is a ‘postponement’ and not a ‘cancellation,’ and that I look forward to the treatment centre coming to fruition sometime in the future.”
When plans for the centre were unveiled to the NHS Tayside board in February 2021 the estimated cost of the project was £35 million and it was scheduled to open at the end of this year.
In April 2022 it was announced the National Treatment Centre -Tayside would be built and run in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way with zero carbon emissions.
“This was in line with new Scottish Government policy and guidance around sustainable design, construction and development.
Last April NHS Tayside set out a fiveyear capital plan from 2023-2028 of around £338 million of projects. The now £128 million treatment and diagnostic centre at PRI was top of the list.
The outline business case was completed in March 2023 and was submitted to the Scottish Government but has not yet been approved.
It is to be one of 10 National Treatment Centres (NTCS) across Scotland - three of which are now operational.
The Auditor General’s latest report on the NHS notes that changes to the delivery timescales for outstanding national treatment centres will result in cost increases.
The report highlights how building costs for the NTCS have been “significantly revised” since they were announced “due to global supply chain issues and construction inflation”.
NHS Tayside previously said the new Perth unit would be “a centre of excellence for planned surgery” with five new theatres to complement the five existing theatres at PRI.
The centre is to have: two enhanced treatment rooms for ophthalmology and day procedures; dedicated patient rooms for all pre and post-operative checks; and a short stay unit for patients requiring a short period of care after their procedure.
The services provided would range from cancer procedures to day case procedures.
Specialities would include breast surgery, general surgery, gynaecology, neurosurgery, oral maxillofacial surgery, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, urology, dermatology and ear, nose and throat (ENT).
Earlier this week Conservative Mid-scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser described the delay as “deeply disappointing”.
He added: ““We were initially promised that the elective surgery centre would be built by the end of this year, but instead we see another broken promise by this incompetent SNP Government.
“It will no doubt try and blame Westminster for this decision but - had construction started when originally promised - the building would have been nearly finished by now.
“Perthshire and Scotland deserve a lot better than this.”