Next steps announced for rebuilding St Columba's Hospice

Tuesday, 7 December 2010

The rebuilding of St Columba's Hospice continues to make good progress, with the first phase of building work officially getting underway last week (Monday 29 November 2010).

The first steps of the project are to build a new Education Centre next door to the Hospice at 17 Boswall Road, which will be used by students and healthcare professionals studying for qualifications in palliative care. St Columba's Hospice will continue to operate as normal while building work is taking place on the Education Centre.

The rebuilding of the main St Columba's Hospice site is expected to start towards the end of 2011 and be completed in 2014. St Columba's Hospice has formally announced plans to relocate to a temporary facility at Kirklands House in Gogarbank late next year, while building work is taking place on the main Hospice site.

St Columba's Hospice has made this decision to ensure that it can continue to provide the best possible care and support for patients and families, and to protect patients from construction noise and disruption. The relocation will also ensure that St Columba's is able to continue providing a full hospice service to patients and their families. All Hospice users will receive full updates about the temporary relocation in the coming months.

Margaret Dunbar, Chief Executive of St Columba's Hospice said:

"Providing the best possible care to our patients and their families is our highest priority, which is why it's imperative that we move to a temporary facility while construction is taking place on our main buildings. Relocating will help ensure that our patients and their families are not disrupted by construction noise, which could obviously have a very negative impact. We are grateful to the Trefoil Charity for making this lease possible."

"We are very pleased to be taking the first steps towards building our new St Columba's Hospice. We will continue to do all that we can to ensure that our building project is a positive experience for our patients, visitors, our neighbours and our staff and volunteers."

St Columba's Hospice will be entirely rebuilt to create a new in-patient unit, day hospice and consulting rooms, all of which have been designed to support the provision of first class, individualised care. The new St Columba's Hospice will have larger and better equipped patient rooms, more single rooms, and extra space in rooms so families can stay overnight. Patients will also be able to get outside more easily in their beds and wheelchairs, and lifts will be installed to improve accessibility.

Ends

For more information please contact Isabelle Herlt, PR and Communications Manager, on 0131 551 1381 or iherlt@stcolumbashospice.org.uk

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