The expansion of the Golden Jubilee National Hospital has taken a step forward after gaining approval to move to an Outline Business Case (OBC) stage.

The Capital Investment Group at the Scottish Government confirmed that they have approved the Initial Agreement for a dedicated ophthalmology unit at the Golden Jubilee. The national hospital has now been invited to progress to the next stage in the process and submit an OBC for the total project with revenue and capital cost of circa £27.3m.

The new unit will offer state of the art care for patients needing cataract surgery which is one of NHSScotland’s key patient demand areas. By offering improved services and facilities, the expansion will help reduce patient waiting times and enhance patient experience.

Jill Young, Chief Executive of the Golden Jubilee, commented: “Providing an NHS that is fit for the future is our priority. Agreement for the Golden Jubilee to move forward in our plans to treat more cataract patients than ever before is exciting news for Scottish patients.

“The expansion of the Golden Jubilee means we can continue to deliver a world class standard of safe and effective healthcare services. It will also boost the local economy by creating more jobs, providing additional learning opportunities and a range of other local community benefits.”

Already undertaking about 15% of all Scottish cataract procedures, if the business case is approved, the dedicated ophthalmology centre will open in 2020. It is also anticipated that the next phase of expansion at the Golden Jubilee, which will include additional orthopaedic surgery, will be available to treat patients from 2021.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “The Scottish Government is committed to investing £200 million to create a new network of elective treatment centres in order to ensure that we have high-quality and adequate provision of elective care services to meet the needs of an ageing population. We welcome the progress being made in the Golden Jubilee National Hospital regarding the proposals for their new elective centre and the enhancement of their ophthalmology services.”

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