Royal Hospital for Children and Young People opens

The new £150M Royal Hospital for Children and Young People has been constructed at Edinburgh BioQuarter Campus in Little France.

Part of the new hospital’s ingenuity lies in the fact that £5.1M of funding was spent creating a unique and therapeutic design programme consisting of 20 projects employing 30 different artists. Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity provided £3.1M in funding whereas Edinburgh Lothians Health Foundation provided the remaining £2M.

Chief Executive for Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, Roslyn Neely stated: “Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity exists to transform the experiences of children and young people in hospital so they can be a child first and a patient second.  We are proud to have funded the art and therapeutic design programme throughout the children’s hospital.

“From the excitement of the Pod waiting area and ward playrooms; to the calming effect of the family interview spaces, the enhancements recognise the importance of environment in helping to reduce anxiety, provide distraction and in creating a sense of welcome.  A trip to hospital can be daunting but we hope that the innovative use of art and design will help to reduce that anxiety for all visitors to this special place.”

The artistic therapy was considered during the design and construction stages of the new facility’s development and was the largest capital commissioning programme for art in a new hospital in the UK. The art itself was curated and produced by the art and design consultant Ginkgo.

Arts Manager for Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation, Susan Grant said: “We are delighted to have co-funded and commissioned these really ambitious art and design projects for the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People & Department of Clinical Neurosciences.

“Part of our diverse programme of arts activities designed to enhance patient experiences across NHS Lothian, we hope this programme of commissions and artist residencies – full of delights and distractions to discover and explore – engages patients, staff and visitors alike and makes their time at the hospital more comfortable.”

The new hospital was scheduled to open on Tuesday 9th July 2019 but has since been delayed due to problems with the ventilation systems in the critical care department which require fixing to meet national standards before any patients can be admitted.

A proportion of the funding was also reserved for art and design therapy projects at the new Department of Clinical Neurosciences which is located at the Western General and the Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

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