Labs on the way at New South Glasgow Hospital

09 Feb 2011

Work on Glasgow's New South Glasgow Hospital has taken a significant step forward as building work on the new lab facility reaches full height.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon took part in the 'topping out' ceremony at the site.

Covering approximately 25,000 square meters the new 'super' lab will serve the whole of the south of the city.

The lab is just one part of the £842 million publicly funded project which will see an integrated children's and adult hospital built on the site of the current Southern General.

With 1,109 beds, the adult hospital will sit alongside a 256 bed children's hospital, providing maternity, paediatric and acute services on a single site. The lab will link to the main hospital via a subterranean tunnel.

Ms Sturgeon said:

"The new Southern General is Scotland's biggest ever hospital building project and will be entirely publicly-funded.

"This major investment shows that despite the significant cuts to Scotland's capital budget the Scottish Government is continuing to prioritise spending on our NHS to improve patient care.

"The completion of the lab building is just the first step in this exciting journey for patients across the West of Scotland.

"Centralising services for all ages on a single site will ensure that everyone can access the widest possible range of specialist services and will also bring with it increased efficiency, shorter waiting times and better continuity of care."

Source: Scottish Government