Delays continue for National Treatment Centre at Larbert's Forth Valley Royal Hospital
NHS Forth Valley health board bosses have asked for assurances that a long-delayed national treatment centre being built at Forth Valley Royal Hospital will open soon, or they will need to look at alternatives including legal action.
The 30-bed ward for orthopaedic patients was announced as part of a network of treatment centres in June 2022, that were to be built across Scotland in a bid to increase capacity and reduce waiting times.
NHS Forth Valley said the centre, which uses 48 modular units, would help to enable an extra 1500 operations to be carried out every year, mainly hip and knee joint replacement surgery.
However, four years on, the new ward, close to FVRH’s emergency department, remains incomplete as several issues remain unresolved, in particular “an outstanding fire compliance issue”.
Members of NHS Forth Valley health board heard this week that there is still no agreement on a way forward between the contractors Portakabin and the regulators, including Falkirk Council’s building standards and NHS Assure.
A report to members stressed that the preferred option is to carry on with the current design proposal, as long as Portakabin can demonstrate that compliance can be achieved.
The report also notes that the Scottish Government is being kept updated and monthly meetings are now taking place with those involved.
NHS Forth Valley’s finance director Scott Urquhart told members that while there is still no agreement, they now have “a clearer pathway” to being able to open the centre as planned after “a lot of ongoing dialogue”.
While opening the building is still the preferred option, members agreed that it was important to look at alternatives.
They were advised that a number of legal options are also available but it was stressed that no decision has been taken to start legal proceedings, and any recommendations to do so would be brought to the Board.
The board’s chair, Neena Mahal, said the board would continue to “keep a very close eye on this”, adding that it has been “extremely frustrating”.
She said that members have had ongoing reports on the situation that cannot be shared due to commercial sensitivity.
NHS Forth Valley has stressed that an interim service has been operating within an existing ward at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, which is currently providing orthopaedic treatment to patients from across Scotland.