Tag: Royal Victoria Building

Woman dies in Western General fire

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Investigations are ongoing following the death of an elderly woman patient after a fire at the Western General’s Royal Victoria building early this morning.

Firefighters from Crewe Toll, Tollcross and McDonald Road fire stations attended a ‘small fire’ in a ground floor ward at 2.30am.

Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the ward, dealt with the fire and an injured female patient while colleagues assisted hospital staff with the evacuation of 14 other patients from the affected ward to another area within the hospital.

The female patient, who was 75, died at the scene and SFRS Fire Investigation Unit officers are now working with Police Scotland officers to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Investigations are at an early stage following the death of a 75-year-old woman at the Western General Hospital. Officers attended after reports were received of a small fire in a room in one of the wards.”

No one else was injutred in the incident, which was brought under control at 4:45.

 

Health Secretary opens Royal Victoria

Health Secretary Alex Neil officially opened the new Royal Victoria building within the Western General Hospital this morning. The £43.6 state of the art facility replaces the Royal Victoria Hospital on Craigleith Road which closed last year.

The new building is all single-bed rooms – the government set out an aim in 2008 that single rooms would become the norm for new and refurbished hospitals.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said there are substantial financial and health benefits to single rooms. He said: “You have to look over the life cycle of the hospital, the building, what is going to be the savings made for example by reducing the incidence of hospital acquired infection. It’s not just the financial cost of that, what’s most important is the benefit to the patient. I think most people would want to be in an environment where the risk of hospital acquired infection was kept to the absolute minimum.”

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Royal Victoria Building Open Day today

The new Royal Victoria Building is holding an open day this afternoon to give local people, patients and relatives the chance to look around the new building at the Western General Hospital. It’s an opportunity to see Edinburgh’s state-of-the-art facility before it swings into operation next month.

The RVB, which has been built on the Western General Hospital site, has been designed to provide the highest quality healthcare services in a modern setting for older people, dermatology and rheumatology patients. It will become a landmark in healthcare history when it opens, as the first of its kind in Scotland to 100 per cent single en-suite rooms.

Along with the rest of the team, project director Dave King will be on hand to take guided tours of the building and point out some of the innovative features and designs. He said: “We are really proud of this facility and we are looking forward to taking people around the building and letting them see it for themselves. The open day will give our neighbours, locals, patients and relatives the chance to see the future of healthcare services for the elderly on Scotland”.

You can see the future for yourself today from 1 – 4pm.

The open day follows the recent handover ceremony from the contractor to NHS Lothian, when NHS Lothian Chairman Dr Charles Winstanley, joined by children from St David’s Primary School, sunk a time capsule in the grounds of the new facility to mark the occasion.

The new Royal Victoria Building was commissioned following a review of older people’s services in January 2002 and an extensive public consultation two years later. Approval was granted in early 2010 for medical services for patients over 65 years of age to be moved and provided in a new facility.