Her Majesty The Queen has today officially opened the new south Glasgow hospitals and Teaching and Learning Centre at a special ceremony attended by 300 guests.
Following today’s official opening ceremony the three centres of excellence will be named:
- The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow
- The Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow
- The Queen Elizabeth Teaching and Learning Centre – Stratified Medicine Scotland
Accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, Her Majesty toured The Royal Hospital for Children and The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and met with patients and staff.
A ceremony followed when Her Majesty unveiled commemorative plaques for the three new facilities revealing their new names before being presented with a posy of flowers by Amy Carmichael * (10), a patient at The Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow.
Andrew Robertson, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Chairman, said: “It is a great honour to our staff and to the patients we serve that Her Majesty and His Royal Highness visited these magnificent new facilities today and granted us the honour of Royal names for these centres of excellence.
“In delivering this project we bring to fulfilment the clinical strategy for hospital services in Greater Glasgow that was agreed in 2002. Throughout this journey, successive Scottish Governments have been wholly supportive – most recently in providing £842 million of public funding for the full cost of these two state-of-the-art hospitals.
“The completion of this project by our main construction partner, Brookfield Multiplex, under budget and ahead of schedule also gave us the opportunity to contribute to other projects on this campus. Most notable is our partnership with the University of Glasgow. Together we have created The Queen Elizabeth Teaching and Learning Centre and related research facilities to realise our shared vision of world class facilities to train the clinicians of tomorrow and develop medicines and technologies to transform patient treatment and disease prevention.”
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland said: “The new hospitals are some of the most modern and best designed healthcare facilities in the world and I am delighted to mark the official opening today.
“This £842 million development was Scotland’s biggest ever hospital building project, part of over £2 billion of Government investment in Scotland’s health infrastructure and will transform healthcare for patients and provide world class training for staff.”
Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, said: “It is fantastic to mark the official opening of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Children. The world-leading technology at these state-of-the-art hospitals will help free up staff time and improve the patient’s experience of hospital.
“Now that staff and patients are settling in to the new hospitals it is clear that these fantastic facilities are already beginning to transform patient care.”
Professor Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: “It is hugely satisfying to witness the official opening of the new hospital by Her Majesty The Queen.
“These new hospitals represent the culmination of years of close partnership working between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the University of Glasgow and industry and will bring immense benefits in health, teaching, medical research, and in particular the development of precision medicine, to the city.
“The University of Glasgow has always enjoyed close working relationships with partners like the NHS, but these hospitals have taken our collaboration to a whole new level. We look forward to an exciting future, and building the success of this fantastic facility together.”
Ross Ballingall, Brookfield Multiplex Managing Director Europe, added: “This is a truly world-class facility and has been one of the most inspiring projects Brookfield Multiplex has ever been involved in. The buy-in we have had from stakeholders across the local community has been overwhelming, and has made the project all the more rewarding.”
During the ceremony Her Majesty and His Royal Highness and invited guests also viewed a short video of the new hospitals which can be viewed at www.nhsggc.org.uk/officialopening
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR
Details of tour and opening ceremony
Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh arrived at the main entrance of the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow where they were met by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Chairman, Andrew Robertson. The Royal party toured the impressive main atrium, Science Centre Outpatient Department, and Ward 3B (surgical). The Royal party then proceeded via ‘hospital street’ the main route linking the hospitals, meeting staff along the route before concluding their tour in The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Gym where Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh met with further staff and patients and also took the time to watch a small group of rehabilitation patients taking part in light exercise.
The official opening ceremony was then performed in the main atrium of The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in front of some 300 invited guests.
* 10 year old Amy Carmichael, from Stonehouse in Lanarkshire, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia when she was seven years old. After undergoing intensive chemotherapy for seven months and maintenance chemotherapy for nearly two years, Amy has been in remission for eight months. Amy now visits the hospital for monthly testing to make sure all continues to be well. Amy is a keen fundraiser for Leukaemia & Lymphoma research and in just the past two years alone she has raised more than £12,000.
Re-naming
The South Glasgow University Hospital has now been renamed The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow.
The Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow has now been renamed The Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow.
The Teaching and Learning Centre – a partnership between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the University of Glasgow – has now been renamed
The Queen Elizabeth Teaching and Learning Centre – Stratified Medicine Scotland.
Images and video
Images and video are being supplied to pictures desks via a media pool arrangement organised by Royal Rota which will be release by the Press Association. Peter Wilkinson, Royal Cameraman, is covering the event for broadcast.