Edinburgh’s only specialist eye hospital, the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion (PAEP), was called “unfit for purpose” in 2014, yet patients are still being treated there.
Despite the promise of a new hospital in 2018 and countless campaigns by charities, medical staff have had no choice but to operate and treat patients in a cramped building with malfunctioning lifts, leaking ceilings, and a dysfunctional heating system.
The PAEP was considered cutting-edge when it opened in 1969. However, it is now too small and so far beyond repair that it is at the end of its serviceable life, charities and hospital staff have argued.
Patients, healthcare workers, campaigners, and charities shared their concerns and frustrations about the conditions at the PAEP with Edinburgh Napier News.
“Lifts can be out of action for hours or days, with a temporary fix eventually being put in place”
A member of clinical staff who recently stopped working at the PAEP spoke about the ‘appalling’ conditions there.
She said: “The lifts break down often. Patient care takes place on five floors with operating theatres at the top on the fifth floor (…) Lifts can be out of action for hours or days, with a temporary fix eventually being put in place.
All the internal rooms (…) are very hot no matter the season, while rooms on the edge of the building are very cold no matter the season. These rooms are uncomfortable for outpatients who inhabit them reasonably briefly and are desperately uncomfortable for inpatients and staff who are in them for hours.”
She also said that all floors experienced leaks and minor flooding during heavy rain, which raised hygiene concerns and disrupted treatment.
In addition to broken lifts, leaking ceilings, and inadequate heating, there are concerns about RAAC (Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) being present in the building.
“I’ve now been waiting for 6 or 7 months so far for an appointment”
Sylvia Paton, chair of the Keep Edinburgh Eye Pavilion (KEEP) group, explained that the size of the hospital and its outdated layout greatly impacted the care it can provide.
Paton said: “Patients wait to be seen in narrow and sometimes very crowded corridors, and there have been reports of the ward space not being large enough for patients to feel comfortably segregated male from females, with no private bathroom facilities.”
She also said that the hospital was no longer large enough to cope with the growing number of patients requiring treatment there.
Due to where it was built, there has been no possibility for extensions or refurbishment to make the building bigger.
As the hospital has struggled to meet service demands, patients have ended up on waiting lists or have been sent to other hospitals.
A current PAEP patient said: “As someone who is on a waiting list for an appointment in a clinic I attended in the past, I was advised to ask the Consultant in another clinic to re-refer me. I’ve now been waiting for six or seven months so far for an appointment.”
Another member of KEEP, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “Patients are being asked to travel further for treatment (…) patients from as far away as Haddington may have to travel to Livingston or the Golden Jubilee in Glasgow for a cataract operation.”
For an individual with sight loss or a visual impairment, travelling across the country for treatment is not a simple task to undertake.
Plans for a new hospital have been put on the back-burner time and time again
Those who depend on the PAEP for treatment have frequently raised their concerns about the current state of the hospital to local MSPs, health ministers, and NHS Lothian.
In response, Sarah Boyack MSP, Miles Briggs MSP, and Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP have submitted numerous parliamentary questions about the PAEP and the proposed new hospital.
Yet, Sylvia Paton said the Government had been “flip-flopping back and forth” with approving plans for a new hospital.
A timeline of the fluctuating plans for a new eye hospital in Edinburgh, according to Sight Scotland
- In 2018, the Scottish Government approved plans for a new hospital due to open in 2024.
- Two years later, the government performed a U-turn, withdrawing the approval.
- A year later, the then First Minster Nicola Sturgeon announced that a new hospital would be funded and cited 2026 as a completion date.
- In early 2022, a report to the NHS Lothian board stated that the completion date had been pushed back to June 2027, which then turned into late 2027.
- By September 2023, the plans were put on hold while a review of capital spending was carried out.
- On the 26th of October, Michael Matheson, the cabinet secretary for health, announced in a meeting with sight loss charities and members of KEEP that funding for a new hospital might not be available this year.
New hospital might be left out of the current funding cycle despite the desperate need for it
This major setback has led to anger, frustration, and anxiety from patients and campaigners alike.
Sight Scotland, a charity supporting individuals experiencing sight loss and visual impairments, was one of the charities present at the meeting with Matheson.
Nicoletta Primo, the Policy and Campaigns Lead for Sight Scotland, said: “Michael Matheson provided little clarity on the timescales expected for the new building, saying it may not even come in the current funding cycle.
Matheson explained that building costs had significantly risen along with general inflation, which has caused the Scottish Government to undertake a review of capital spending and if the project will be included in this.”
In response to Matheson’s announcement, Sight Scotland launched a petition on the 7th of November, demanding that funding for a new hospital should be prioritized.
“Will that mean that the new hospital will be sacrificed again and the care of Visually Impaired People will continue to be lacking when compared to other areas within the NHS for even longer?”
The Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) director, James Adams, said: “We urge the Scottish Government to identify the resources to renew and set out a timeline as soon as possible.
The renewal of the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion is crucial to the future provision of eye services in the wider Edinburgh & Lothian area and vital for patients’ eye health.”
KEEP chair, Sylvia Paton, said: “He gave no reassurance that the project would go ahead any time soon, if at all, and indeed said that ‘there might be a new facility at some point even though it may not be in this term.’”
On top of this concern, Paton worries what a party change in the next Scottish General Election could mean for the PAEP.
Many have been questioning how the Government can justify delaying the project with funds currently available, they have claimed.
A KEEP member said: “It’s false economy not to go ahead with building the new PAEP. There is money there, but it depends on whether the Scottish Government chooses to fund it or not.”
If the plan for a new building is not funded this year and the PAEP is forced to close due to its poor conditions, Edinburgh will be the only major city in Great Britain not to have an eye hospital.
