Cost of new NHS Scotland national treatment centre soars

The estimated cost of a new surgery centre to tackle Scotland's NHS waiting list backlog has more than doubled.

The National Treatment Centre (NTC) in Livingston was originally projected to cost £70.9m but estimates now suggest the new facility will cost £184m.

A new specialist eye hospital for the Lothians has also jumped in estimated cost from £112.5m to £123m.

NHS Lothian said the costs are "forecasts only" and subject to a number of factors.

The two centres are part of a network of 10 sites across Scotland which are meant to be delivering at least 40,000 additional elective surgeries, diagnostics and other procedures per year by 2026.

The Scottish government has said the network is the "single biggest increase in planned care capacity ever created in the NHS" but the £400m plan has been subject to a series of delays with many NTCs years behind schedule.

A central system for allocating the new NTC capacity means patients from all over Scotland will be using the centres.

This is aimed at making sure those waiting the longest are treated first but has resulted in less capacity than expected at a local level.

NHS Fife board papers show that it was expecting an extra annual allocation of 336 surgical slots at its new NTC in Kirkcaldy, but this has been cut to 26 with the board warning this "will likely not see the improvement in local waiting times as originally expected".

A review of NTC allocations is taking place next month.

A total of 1,500 new clinical and non-clinical staff are needed Scotland-wide for the NTCs but repeated concerns have been raised by health boards about how this will be achieved.

NHS Highland will open its NTC in April but it currently has only been able to recruit 88% of the 208 staff it needs so its operating theatres will open on a phased basis.

NHS Lothian's plans to build a replacement for the Edinburgh Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion was put at £112.5m in its outline business case, but the health board's latest estimate suggest it will cost £123m.

A £45m plan to build a replacement eye hospital was agreed in 2018 but funding was withdrawn by the Scottish government in 2020.

A full business case for the NTC in Livingston is scheduled to be submitted next year, while one for the new eye pavilion will go to Scottish ministers in 2025.

Both sites have a projected operational date of 2027.

Jim Crombie, deputy chief executive of NHS Lothian, said: "Until conclusion of the full business case, and agreement with the Scottish government, cost projections and completion dates remain forecast only and dependent on a number of factors.

"Ongoing design developments, assurance processes and inflation are among those factors and will have an ongoing impact on cost projections in particular."

A Scottish government spokesman said: "Four NTCs will open this year providing significant additional protected capacity for orthopaedic, ophthalmic and diagnostic capacity.

"The NTC programme is a huge investment in frontline planned care infrastructure and, over the next five years, will provide the single biggest increase in planned care capacity ever created in the NHS."

The spokesman added that NTC capacity was being treated as a "national resource" to ensure the new facilities are "targeting the longest waiting patients".