Major refurbishment project at Spire Shawfair Park Hospital unveiled by MSP Colin Beattie

• £8m refurbishment project
• Delivering greater treatment choice and faster access for Scottish patients
• Hospital is helping to ease pressure on NHS Scotland waiting lists

Results of a major new £8m refurbishment project have been unveiled at Edinburgh’s Spire Shawfair Park Hospital by MSP Colin Beattie. The upgrades enable the hospital to accommodate overnight patients for the first time and to provide more complex surgery.

For people in and around Edinburgh, the Lothians, Borders and Fife, Spire Shawfair Park now provides greater choice and quicker access to a wider range of healthcare treatments.

The hospital has created additional ward accommodation so it can now accommodate 20 overnight patients, installed a new operating theatre, two new minor-operations rooms, and one ambulatory care unit. A laminar airflow upgrade has also been completed to deliver greater circulation of filtered air to the theatres, reducing the risk of airborne contamination of wounds and sterile equipment.

The ambulatory care unit will increase the hospital’s capacity to deliver short stay care, while the minor operations rooms will provide people with rapid access to ear, nose and throat surgery; aesthetics (plastic surgery); upper-limb orthopaedics and ophthalmology services – all without the need for theatres or a general anaesthetic. This means more patients can receive their treatment and return home on the same day. The project has made facilities at the hospital brighter, better and more comfortable for patients.

These developments will increase Spire Shawfair Park Hospital’s capacity, helping treat up to 30% more NHS and private patients a year. Through a mix of inpatient, day care and walk-in services, this increases patient choice and in turn will help to address waiting lists in and around Edinburgh.

Alison Green, Hospital Director at Spire Shawfair Park Hospital, said: “This is an exciting time for everyone connected with Spire Shawfair Park Hospital. Our new care facilities and expanded capacity here in Edinburgh will benefit patients and colleagues, and help us maintain the high standards in healthcare that patients have come to expect from Spire hospitals.

“We are here to make a positive difference to people’s lives, through the outstanding personal care we provide. Our new facilities will allow us to keep improving the experience for both our private and our NHS patients across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Borders and Fife.”

Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh added: “It is great to see the work being undertaken at Spire Shawfair Park Hospital to expand and improve services provided to patients. Spire Healthcare forms an important part of health provision for those that use the service and also plays its part in supporting our NHS services in Midlothian and the surrounding areas.”