New £28m maternity hospital to offer 'gold standard' care

A NEW £28 million maternity unit at the Southern General Hospital was given the go-ahead by health bosses in Glasgow yesterday.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde unveiled the plans for the new unit yesterday and promised it would be operational by December 2009.

The decision marks the end of the Queen Mother's maternity at Yorkhill.

The move means maternity services will maintain a link with children's medical care, with a new 100 million children's hospital also planned for the Southern General site.

A campaign to keep that link between maternity and acute child services was supported by 156,000 people including the then health minister Malcolm Chisholm.

The health board said it consulted doctors and patient groups on three options for the new maternity hospital.

And a report said the plan approved yesterday is the only one that would see a new unit open in the timescale recommended by an independent review group while minimising disruption to services.

The board ruled out a cheaper option of merely refurbishing the crumbling maternity unit at the Southern and a more expensive proposal.

The favoured plan includes a new unit costing more than 17.5 million, plus a 5.5 million upgrade of existing services.

Health chiefs believe this will create the "gold standard" of maternity, child and adult healthcare, as recommended by an expert group led by Professor Andrew Calder.

Dr Jonathan Coutts, clinical director for neonatology, based at the Queen Mother's Hospital, said: "We looked at a number of options to achieve the best possible links with the new children's hospital and we are confident that this layout offers the best solution for newborn babies and staff."

Dr Alan Mathers, clinical director for obstetrics and gynaecology, based at the Princess Royal Maternity, said: "These plans will deliver the gold standard of triple co-location of adult, children's and maternity services on the same site. In addition, because the plan is based on providing mainly new build facilities with some refurbishment, disruption to existing services will be minimal."

However, some doctors fear leaving Glasgow with only two maternity units - at the Southern and Glasgow Royal Infirmary - will mean a struggle to cope.

The health board says the new maternity and the GRI's Princess Royal could cope with 12,000 births a year between them. But the city already has more than 11,800 births.

The health board has said further capacity could be provided at the Princess Royal.

Work at the Southern is expected to begin near the end of this year, allowing the new unit to open no later than December 2009. The new Yorkhill is due to begin operating alongside that unit at some point in 2011.