Frequently asked questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about the St Columba's Hospice rebuild. If you have a question about the rebuild that isn't answered here, please contact us.
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Why are you rebuilding St Columba’s Hospice?
The facilities at St Columba’s Hospice were expected to last for 25 years and that was over 33 years ago, so the hospice is now in urgent need of redevelopment. Specialist palliative care has also changed considerably over the years, with new clinical practices and standards. In order for St Columba’s Hospice to continue providing the best possible care to patients and their families, we now need to update and upgrade our facilities.
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What are the benefits of rebuilding St Columba’s Hospice?
St Columba’s Hospice is being rebuilt with the needs of patients and families as the highest priority.
The number of single rooms in our in-patient unit will be increased from eight to 18. All patient rooms will be ensuite with showers, have access to garden areas, and be equipped with the latest moving and handling equipment to allow the movement of patients safely and easily. Patient rooms will also be designed to look and feel more like real bedrooms, with features to conceal medical equipment and support wellbeing and relaxation.
Every single patient room will have the space and facilities for extra beds, allowing a loved one to stay at the most difficult of times. The number of family rooms will also be increased and a new coffee room for patients and their visiting family and friends will be built.
A new education centre will be created at the property next door to the hospice, 17 Boswall Road, which will house the Centre for Excellence in Palliative Care Education.
Finally, all of our facilities will be getting an upgrade, including the catering, laundry, and administration facilities.
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Why isn’t St Columba’s Hospice moving to a new site?
We are ideally located in North Edinburgh to ensure that there is balanced provision of specialist palliative care across the city. Furthermore, our current location overlooking the Firth of Forth was chosen because of its access to sea views and garden areas. We also have well established links in the area – both professionally and with local supporters.
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Why will you still have 30 in-patient beds?
We have been advised by the Health Board that there will be a need for 30 beds going forward. However, we will be changing the configuration of the rooms so that we have a much greater number of single rooms and will move to 3 bedded instead of 4 bedded rooms. This will not only improve privacy for patients and families, but it will also increase our flexibility for admissions and occupancy rates. This means that more people will be able to access the specialist help and support provided at St Columba’s.
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How much will the rebuild cost to complete?
Our rebuild project will cost approximately £26 million to complete. With the need for a future rebuild in mind, the prudent financial management of the Hospice Governors has ensured that funds have been accrued over the years. Therefore, we are able to contribute £19 million from our own reserves, leaving us £7 million to
raise to realise our vision for our new Hospice. Our new building is a valuable and long term investment and will help us meet the specialist palliative care needs of the future.
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How many people will benefit from the new St Columba’s Hospice?
The new St Columba’s Hospice will last for more than 40 years and will help approximately 40,000 patients as well as many families and friends over that time.
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What are the timelines for building work?
We started the first phase of building work on 29 November 2010 and we hope to complete the project in 2014. We are undertaking a phased build to minimise disruption to patients and our neighbours.
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What will happen in the first phase of building work?
During the first phase we will be building our new Education Centre at 17 Boswall Road, the property next door to the Hospice. We officially started this first phase on 29 November 2010 and hope to complete it towards the end of 2011. Building work is hoped to start on the main site of St Columba’s Hospice, at 15 Boswall Road, in early 2012.
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Will patients and visitors be affected while the Education Centre is being built?
While we are building our new Education Centre (phase 1), St Columba’s Hospice will continue to operate as normal and we do not expect that patients or visitors will be affected. If you are a user of the Hospice and you are affected, please let a Nursing Sister know. St Columba’s will do everything in its power to minimise disruption to all users of the Hospice and our neighbours.
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Will parking be affected during the rebuild project?
Parking in the lane adjacent to the Hospice will be closed from 29 November 2010 to enable building work on our new Education Centre next door. The number of visitor spaces and accessible spaces in the Hospice grounds has been increased to improve parking at the Hospice for patients and visitors. Free parking is also available in the surrounding streets, and we ask our visitors to please be considerate of our neighbours when parking their vehicles. A new car park will be created at 17 Boswall Road at the end of the project, which will be available for everyone who uses the Hospice.
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When will the main Hospice site be rebuilt?
We hope to start rebuilding the main Hospice at 15 Boswall Road in early 2012, with an anticipated completion date in 2014. The entire Hospice (except for Challenger Lodge which is a listed building) will be completely rebuilt to create a purpose-built facility that will meet the specialist palliative care needs of the future. The Challenger Lodge building will house the administrative and office space and will be updated in line with listed building requirements.
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Will St Columba’s Hospice continue to operate while building work is taking place on the main site?
While we rebuild our main site, we need to relocate to a temporary home at Kirklands House in Gogarbank. We’ve made this decision to ensure that we can continue to provide the best possible care and support, and to protect our patients from construction noise and disruption. Our relocation also ensures that we are able to continue providing a full hospice service to our patients and their families.
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Where is Kirklands House?
Kirklands House is on Gogarmuir Road, Gogarbank, near the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters. The House is in scenic and quiet grounds, making it a very appropriate location for St Columba’s Hospice to relocate to. The best way to get to Kirklands House is by car or bicycle. We are investigating transport options to make it easier for our visitors to travel there.
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When will St Columba’s move and how long will it be based there?
We are currently expecting to move to Kirklands House in early 2012, before construction starts on the main Hospice site. It is still being determined how long we will need to remain at Kirklands House, but we expect to be based there for at least two years.
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Will the facilities be the same at Kirklands House as they are at St Columba’s Hospice?
Kirklands House will be adapted to St Columba’s Hospice standards, and will be redeveloped so that we are able to continue providing the highest possible standards of specialist palliative care to patients and their families. Our redevelopment plans for Kirklands House are currently subject to planning permission, but as soon as they are finalised we will let all users of the Hospice know what they comprise.
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Is the new Hospice going to be environmentally sustainable?
Where practical, sustainable features such as rainwater recycling and solar panels, will be incorporated into the design. The new building will also be equipped with modern insulation, heating and ventilation systems, which will help to reduce costs and CO2 emissions.
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How can I find out more information?
To find out more information, please call us on 0131 551 1381 or email info@stcolumbashospice.org.uk. We will continue to keep all users of the Hospice up-to-date with the latest news and plans over the coming months.
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