Eye hospital patients moved elsewhere during repair work

Patients with appointments at an eye clinic closed for urgent repairs will be able to receive care elsewhere in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion will close for six months from 28 October while waste pipes are repaired and asbestos is removed from the building.

NHS Lothian said the facility, which opened in 1969, required “extensive work” but services will be distributed across the health board in the meantime.

Deputy chief executive Jim Crombie warned there may be “some knock-on impact” from the relocation.

Plans to replace the Chalmers Street building, which was deemed unfit for purpose in 2015, have been shelved due to budget pressures.

Inpatient services and day surgery appointments will be moved to St John’s Hospital in Livingston during the closure, while emergency ophthalmology care will be treated at a temporary home in the nearby Lauriston Building.

Other services will also be accessible for patients at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People’s department of clinical neurosciences and East Lothian Community Hospital.

Mr Crombie said care had been taken to keep disruption to a minimum, but admitted there may be some disruption.

“Patient and staff safety are always our chief consideration, and our teams are working hard to minimise disruption,” he said.

“Please be assured, patients will be given the details of their new appointment with updated times and locations as soon as we can, and we expect that to be within the next fortnight. They can expect to receive physical letters or electronic letters on the e-comms portal.

“However, the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion was our busiest location for outpatient appointments, with up to 1,600 slots every week, as well as more than 130 inpatient appointments.

"There is likely to be an impact on waiting times in ophthalmology, but also in other specialties where the new clinics are being relocated.”

Work will begin at the end of October and will involve the removal of two waste pipes as well as asbestos material from a sealed cavity where the pipework is located.

A £45m replacement eye hospital sited on the Royal Infirmary campus at Little France was agreed in 2018, but funding was later withdrawn by the Scottish government.

However, in 2021 then Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said a new eye hospital would be part of a £10bn investment in the NHS estate over 10 years.

The cost to replace the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion has since been put at £123m.