Episode 2 Scotland's Superhospital

23 years ago I was promised

this would be up and running within ten years.

It's finally here - enjoy yourselves.

CHEERING

It's quite a historic moment, actually.

I'm getting emotional now.

Glasgow,

Spring 2015,

the Western, Yorkhill...

the Victoria Infirmary

and the Southern General hospitals are closing.

All four will move into this one massive new state-of-the-art hospital

full of the latest technology.

-MACHINE:

-'Attention, automatic transport.'

You get games and all that when you're in bed, so...

It's just something else.

Over a decade in the planning

it's set to revolutionise health care in the city.

And it's finally time to open the doors.

Our doors are locked and we don't have a key,

and I'm sure that will be the only hiccup of the day.

HE LAUGHS

There are mixed feelings all round.

Just the emotional attachment.

The sentiment.

All the wee souls that we've seen.

Yaay!

Looking forward to the new one. It's supposed to be a lot better.

But how well will four-into-one really go?

54's full.

55 is full.

Right, so we need to get beds now.

Only time will tell.

Exciting.

Oh. Not used to modern stuff.

In the largest operation of its kind in the UK,

four of Glasgow's oldest hospitals

are becoming one.

The ambition behind this huge project is to create

a gold standard of health care for the rest of Scotland.

The Children's Hospital has been built alongside the adults',

so that they can share medical expertise.

Pooling medical knowledge and resources in one place

has been shown to improve treatment and survival rates.

Two of the old adult hospitals have already moved,

but since then the A & E at the new hospital

has been struggling with long waiting times.

'Tonight on Reporting Scotland

'claims of chaos at the country's new superhospital.

'Just weeks after opening, people wait hours

'to be admitted to A & E

'at the new Southern General in Glasgow.'

The closure of a third adult hospital in just 48 hours

will put even more pressure on the new one.

The Western Infirmary has, historically,

had one of the busiest A&E's in the city -

seeing around 62,000 people every year.

For many of the staff here,

negative press about their new workplace is far from their minds.

I think it'll be a lot, lot better for the patients.

The facilities are so much better -

single rooms, en suite...

Erm...

The absolute best that modern medicine can offer.

It's not just the Western's A & E that's closing.

In all, 17 wards are making the move over the next few days,

including the Intensive Care Unit.

Kenny's lived here for ten months already,

and the new hospital will become his new home.

I just woke up one morning

and my legs collapsed

and the next, erm...

The same...same day I went to the Southern Hospital...

and pretty much...everything collapsed.

Kenny is battling Guillain-Barre syndrome

which has paralysed him from the neck down.

I was into paragliding for about 30 years,

and my motorcycles, as well,

so, I miss that a lot, yeah.

So anything we can help you with today?

-No, not really, no, I'm feeling...

-You're good.

-I'm feeling quite well.

Sandy Binning is Kenny's consultant

and he's hopeful that the design of the new hospital

will greatly benefit his patient.

Because of the geography of the Western Infirmary

it's very difficult to really get him out and about,

because we're all in separate buildings

so the space and the wide...big wide corridors in the new hospital

will give him a bit more freedom out and about in his wheelchair.

The day of Kenny's move has arrived.

His condition means that he'll have a prolonged stay

at the new hospital.

Where you're going is a lovely room.

And you'll have a bit more,

a bit more privacy which will be nice for you.

Aye, it'll be nice.

Nice as it could be lying here.

I know, I know.

Uh-huh.

That's the hard part.

It could be worse.

Not much, but...it could be worse.

I think a change of environment will be better.

-Yeah.

-So it will.

-Aye.

It'll help you...

get stronger.

I'm going to walk out of somewhere, it might not be here.

Well, it won't be here, no, because we're closing!

Right, yeah. Exactly.

You're right, yeah.

It won't be here, unfortunately.

Yeah, no.

That's everything. There we go.

It can be dangerous moving critical care patients.

Fluid status, cardiovascular status,

change in respiratory are all things that are, that can be quite...

are very important, and are quite a stress on a patient during a move

so overall we try and avoid moving patients.

On three, everyone.

One, two, three...perfect.

That's it, good man. Hard board under your back, Kenny, now.

Just about there.

It's a risk to them, moving, so

that's why everybody's a little bit concerned

that no harm comes to our patients.

So we like to make sure that he's

as best prepared as he possibly can be.

That stays with Kenny at all times.

I'll make sure. That's fine.

It's nice and light that.

-Bye.

-Bye, Kenny.

In A & E, they're preparing to close the doors for good.

LAUGHTER

It's a kind of emotional time for us,

but it's so positive looking back

and seeing so many smiling faces

and I'd like to wish everybody

the absolute best of luck, no matter where you go,

no matter what age you are - at the start of your career,

or perhaps kind of getting towards the end -

I wish you all the very best of luck.

There we go!

-Closed!

-Yes!

CHEERING

The new hospital is one of the most advanced medical campuses in the world

and the biggest critical care complex in the UK.

It will be home to Kenny for the foreseeable future.

That's fabulous.

-Can you see the banners? Was it OK?

-Yeah.

-Absolutely fine?

-Absolutely fine, yes.

Christine's brought your wheelchair round.

Did you see Suzanne's decorated?

I can see that, yeah.

It's very touching.

You'll be able to see there quite nicely, wouldn't you?

I think?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Over a period of six weeks,

all three adult hospitals have successfully made the move

into the new South Glasgow University Hospital.

But the closure of the Western has made the situation even

worse for the new A & E.

It's now the worst-performing in Scotland for patient waiting times.

Director for South Glasgow Hospital Services Anne Harkness

has her daily morning meeting with representatives from every ward.

Oh, my God!

SHE LAUGHS

..you've got plus-30 and I'm minus-30.

That'll be right, you're 30 beds short.

-OK, Anne?

-Yeah.

Right, are we ready?

We'll start off just by yesterday's performance from AD.

272 attendances.

We had 93 breach which took our percentage down to 66%.

The Scottish Government has a target that 95% of patients

should be seen and treated in A & E within four hours.

People might've seen in the media that last week this hospital

had the worst unscheduled care performance of any hospital in Scotland,

And it looks like this week it's continuing.

I know we're all trying really hard,

but I think the pressure we're all under around unscheduled care

is only getting more difficult and really that's around beds,

so we'll have a discussion perhaps, at the end,

about what more we can do to help you to get beds available. Right.

The main problem facing staff

is that beds are not made available quickly enough on the wards,

so the A & E patients can't be moved on to make room for new arrivals.

It's not good.

It's Anne's responsibility to try to find a solution to this problem.

I think it's communication.

The reports I was getting this morning

was that the department remained congested.

Patients were ready and processed within two or three hours,

but they were just waiting on beds.

The patients are ready to go, the beds are there.

It's that mismatch of how long that actually takes.

Anne's heard the Scottish Government is sending in a hit squad.

I think we'll get a team sent in next week.

Not a support team, a la Paisley and the Royal...

..as in...I'm-out-of-a-job team.

So, be clear, guys, next week

you'll probably have a new boss.

So, unless we can get today to somewhere way, way above that.

Right, see you shortly.

In A & E, new patients continue to arrive.

It...is busy.

We get a constant flow of ambulances coming up that corridor.

We're currently waiting for around ten beds at the moment.

That's because there's no beds available in the hospital.

It's almost like a chain effect because

we can't get these patients out to the beds,

so we can't get other patients into the cubicles here.

How we solve that problem as a hospital is well beyond me.

How the wards help solve that problem, I don't know.

We're all in this together, and I think as an Emergency Department

we'd like to help it.

Very frustrated, I would say.

We really do want things done as quickly as we can,

and as safely as we can.

In the morning, the hospital had a shortfall of 30 beds.

This afternoon, that number's been reduced to ten.

As we sit here just now we've got ten...

ten people waiting for beds in ED,

so if we just go through at the moment, IAU?

I'm full just now with 29. Four in my waiting area.

I've got a problem now that there's not a space for medics

to see patients, so it's holding things up a bit.

OK.

53 are full.

54's full.

55 is full.

So we need to get some of these people out into the day rooms now

so we can get some of the ARU people moving.

No beds available, as we speak.

Right, so we need to get beds now.

Right, OK. Thank you.

Whilst Anne and her colleagues try to solve the bed issues,

the patients are still backing up in A & E.

'It is the fact that a number of clinical teams

'are only just coming together for the first time

'and it's that trust, familiarity issue that goes on.

'And there are some practicals about this hospital that take longer.

'It takes a bit longer because all of the rooms are single rooms,

'which is a good thing, but it means that the room is cleaned

'before the next person goes in.

'We never had to do that before -

'you would clean the physical bed, and the ward was cleaned as a whole.'

Morning.

On reflection we had not perhaps thought that

that would add half an hour to every bed being turned around.

So we've agreed we'll get extra response teams in from tomorrow

using additional staff,

and that'll allow us to clear those beds a lot quicker,

so hopefully we'll gain the half hour back we weren't expecting...

We weren't expecting really to happen.

While the new hospital struggles to sort out the problems in A & E,

across the Clyde the final hospital due to move

is the Royal Hospital for Sick Children,

known locally as Yorkhill.

It has been at this site in the West End of Glasgow for 100 years.

The children's A & E is preparing to close,

but they'll have their own separate hospital

so it won't make things worse for the adult A & E.

As a nurse practitioner Mark Lilley looks after minor injuries.

He's beginning his final shift in one of his favourite rooms.

The room that we have here has

been painted like a space room,

which, being a big Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate -

anything with the word star in it - fan, I love.

Kalum Moore, please!

Hello, come on in.

Have a seat, thanks. My name's Mark,

-I'm one of the nurse practitioners.

-Hello.

What brings yous to A & E? What's happened, Kalum?

-I bumped my nose.

-Oh, no...! What did...

The A & E as it stands at the moment in Yorkhill

wasn't an original design concept.

'The original children's hospital didn't have

'an Accident and Emergency Department

'so ours has been kind of added on as needed.'

No potatoes in there!

Now, look over to that window for me, and we'll see

if I can see any potatoes in this ear?

Children's A & E consultant Scott Hendry

has helped design the new purpose-built Emergency Department.

It will feature cutting-edge medical equipment

and a lot more space than he currently has.

This is our resuscitation room.

We have the potential to manage four patients in here,

but, as you can see, the fourth space

is really just used as a storage area at the moment.

One of the issues we can have here it, there's not a lot of space,

so it can get a bit cramped here.

One of the things that we do have is gases and things

that will trail from the wall across to the head end

of the patient and then that can, we'll have monitor leads across so

that can impair your movement round about the bed

and sometimes you'll find people having to step over trollies,

and there's a risk that you can pull on lines

or pull on oxygen tubing.

Having been given the rare opportunity

to help design a hospital from scratch, Scott hopes

that the plans will transform Children's A & E for the better.

I'm looking forward to getting over the way.

I think it's going to be a great department.

I hope the patients feel

it's been as well designed

as the staff and the team that are going over there think it is.

We're certainly at a stage now

when we feel absolutely ready to get across and get on with it.

Hello.

A London-based architect firm won the bid to design the superhospital

at a cost of £842 million.

Lead architects Jonathan Hendrick and Richard Masock

came up with a unique race track concept for the new Children's Hospital.

So we've, we've got three different children's wards,

but they all need to link together in terms of flexibility.

so the race track actually helps to achieve that.

The new hospital sits close to Govan's historic ship yards,

and that rich history inspired the original sketches.

So we had the dock and we had the beacon

and we had the vessel or the boat that was docked up.

The star-shaped beacon is the adult hospital.

Then the more circular design

is the Children's Hospital.

Children, then, unlike any other clients that we have,

they love space, they inhabit it,

they chew our furniture,

they lick our windows when they're teething

they're very much one-to-one with everything.

For us it was a joy just to, I mean, really go fairly stratospheric.

All of the colours that we chose are based on evidence-based research.

So the pinks are known to calm down

and in certain adolescent units,

mental health units,

clinicians have used less medication

and less restraint within those scenarios.

So there was always a little bit of evidence-base

behind all the decisions that were made throughout the hospital.

In Yorkhill Schiehallion Cancer Ward, staff and patients

are preparing for their big move.

There's just one week to go.

The staff are having a staff meeting in a huddle at the minute

to discuss patients and update for the ward round.

The clerkess is very busy.

She's kind of doing everything for everybody and...

Hi!

Senior Charge Nurse Jean Kirkwood

will be in charge of moving this busy ward.

We're sitting full today, so we're sitting at 22 patients.

As well as that, just trying to pack

crates of things that we can do already.

LOUD "SNEEZE"

The Schiehallion Cancer Ward looks after children with cancers

and blood disorders

including Teara, who's been battling a rare form of leukaemia

for two years.

Ahh...Ahhh...choo!

Teara and her mum, Sara,

have been regular visitors to this ward,

often staying for weeks or months at a time.

This is Teara's second time with the condition.

She was first diagnosed when she was three,

and she was in hospital for six months

and then she was clear of it.

And then she relapsed again, yeah,

so we had to come back and she had more chemo in Aberdeen Hospital

but we had to come to Yorkhill because...

for the bone marrow transplant.

And my son Tyler was Teara's donor for her bone marrow transplant,

so it is hard...and stressful.

Parents often stay on the ward with their sick children,

and the new hospital has been built with that in mind.

The new hospital has pull-down beds

which'll be better because that's the beds you get

and they're not the best, so...

And more storage. Definitely more storage,

because the kids have loads and loads of things

and there's just nowhere to put them.

So, definitely storage in a new room would be great.

As you can see it's all kind of piling up.

At 19, Emily is the oldest patient in Yorkhill.

She's been coming here since she was 14.

A cancer ward isn't a horrible place to be, and isn't a...

You know, it's horrible because you've got

to go through the treatment and stuff

and, obviously, kids aren't well

but it's such a happy place, as well.

And everyone tries to make it as nice an experience as possible.

Emily has a rare cancer called neuroblastoma

and has to spend long periods of time on this ward.

Arh! Ooh...!

It mainly caters for much younger children,

so she has high hopes for the teenage unit that's been built

in the new hospital.

I'm going to be there for six months

so it's so important to have a room with like a nice view

or, you know, nice decorations

and plenty of things to entertain you.

Like, your TV and Xbox's and things like that.

So, yeah, it's really important.

And Wi-Fi.

I think it'll be really nice.

I think there's a real buzz on the ward.

There's a bit of chaos - obviously a chaotic time -

everybody moving everything -

but I think there's a real upbeat feeling between the staff,

which is just brilliant.

You know, it's quite exciting to be part of it.

Definitely.

Hi, Niamh. Just got medicine for you.

I'll just wash my hands.

On the day of the move Senior Staff Nurse Emma Doyle

will be going ahead to the new hospital to receive patients

and help settle them in.

There you go.

I like the fact that the kids are in for a long time,

you get to build up a relationship with them -

I thought that kind of nursing was for me.

I thought, I'll stay for two years and see if I like it,

and that was like nearly 13 years ago

and I haven't kind of went anywhere else.

You are busy, you are rushed, you know - it's constant.

It's not for everyone, but that's the kind of style of nursing I like.

Emma's preparing herself for a hectic shift on the day of the move.

People say it'll be like Christmas Day.

So if there was anyone due in for chemotherapy.

They'll maybe, like, delay it a day.

But last Christmas Day I was on a 12-hour shift,

and we were pretty busy so...

Anything can change in here.

It's a bit... I'm a bit anxious about it,

but I'm sure it'll be fine.

The new Children's Hospital is almost ready to welcome

its first patients,

and architect Jonathan Hendrick has come to see

how his designs have been brought to life.

I'm glad you picked a sunny day, Jonathan.

Yeah, wow!

It's great. It's just stunning, you know.

And that is... Well, it's six years ago since we started the design.

And that's not bad to build a hospital this size in six years.

It's quite incredible.

It's like walking through your drawings,

and that's really exciting.

Wow, this is nice.

This atrium has been designed to entertain children

whilst they wait for their outpatient appointments.

It features innovative distraction therapies

including interactive installations

from Glasgow's Science Centre.

They won't even know they're waiting for an appointment probably.

Which is the idea. It looks like a big playground, really.

Yeah, it's really terrific.

I really want to see the Emergency Department.

It was one of the first departments I worked on.

The wellbeing of a child was central to all of the design concepts

down to the very last detail.

Wow! This is a nice space here.

Yeah, yeah, it is, isn't it?

Here, in the Accident and Emergency waiting area,

window art has been used so that the children don't have the stress

of seeing ambulances arrive.

Therapeutic colour schemes have been carefully selected to help soothe

and reduce the stress of the patients and their families.

At the old Yorkhill hospital,

the packing continues, and the staff look forward to moving across

to their new home.

We're looking forward to the new hospital, aren't we?

Yeah, a nice bright room, a nice new playroom.

-Everything spanking new.

-New.

Are you excited about that?

-She is but she's not great at showing it.

-Aw.

We'll get ready for it, when we get there, won't we?

We'll be fine.

Well, this'll be the last time I work with you until the other side.

-Aww!

-Aww!

It sounds like death, doesn't it? "See you on the other side."

I'm very sentimental about this site,

but also excited about a new place to go because it's been

25 years since I've changed venues, as it were.

And I think it'll be good.

I think it'll do us all good to get a wee change

because after 25 years...

Looking around, it is a wee bit stale in here

and we need a refresher. So...

-Declutter.

-Yes.

-A nice clean ward.

Many families - like Jessica and Nathan -

have been returning for one last look round this place

that has meant so much to them.

And, look - this is where you used to come.

Nathan has a congenital heart defect.

He underwent his first surgery at just six days old,

and needs ongoing treatment.

His next appointment will be south of the river,

in the new hospital.

-What can you see?

-I see a bus.

-You see a bus?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

You'll be going to the new hospital for your next operation, won't you?

A very special place.

It'll always hold a special place in my heart, especially this...

view.

I used to take myself away

and just look over here,

and it used to just give me a wee bit of peace.

And the care in here was just fantastic. Out of this world.

I can't, honestly, thank them enough for what they did.

Because not only did they care for him,

but me and my partner, as well.

It was just out of this world.

Let's go, Mum.

Oh, "Let's go, Mum"!

Mark has finished his final shift

and is leaving Yorkhill for the last time.

This wall was freshly painted to allow us,

last year when it was our 100 years of nursing,

to be able to sign messages,

to put memories, to just have good well wishes

placed upon the wall.

It was a great idea - people could just wander past

and just scribble something on the wall to be able to pass a memory.

"50 years on and I'm going strong.

"Thanks NHS. Sheila Macpherson".

Maybe that's someone that was here as a child,

then as a member of staff - there are quite a few of them.

This one looks quite fresh.

HE READS ALOUD

At the new adult hospital,

Kenny's settling in to his new surroundings

and his friend Dave has come to join him on a visit

to one of the building's best vantage points.

It's big enough for a party, Kenny.

Unfortunately, it's not one of Glasgow's finest days.

Get these adjusted for...

-That's the Science Tower.

-Mm-hm.

Over on your left, too, Dave.

Yeah.

-And you can see the university from here.

-Mm-hm.

I've lived in the West End since I've been in Glasgow

so I quite like the view.

The view up there towards the West End, so...

The extra space and easier access in the new hospital

means that Kenny will now be able to get out of the ward

and have a change of scenery much more than he did before.

You're out of the ward and you don't have to stay in there,

you can go and meet people

down at the coffee shop

and just enjoy being outside.

Yeah, it's more social, I think.

-It's much more sociable than...

-Far more sociable, yeah.

-Yeah.

For Yorkhill Children's Hospital,

the big move is now less than 24 hours away.

-Are you looking forward to your new hospital?

-Yeah.

What are you looking forward to most?

-A trip in the ambulance?

-Mm-hm.

Yes.

Yay!

In the Cardiac Ward the immediacy is sinking in

for Senior Charge Nurse Louise Bell.

So these are final documents coming through

which just makes the whole thing so real.

And that's now my stomach churning at the thought of it.

Louise will be overseeing tomorrow's move

which will involve the transportation of some of the hospital's sickest children -

including four-month-old Barbara.

She's got heart problems.

She's got a leak in her valve which has caused

swelling on the left side,

too much pressure on the right side.

Came in yesterday, and she's just been kind of hectic from there.

She's been put on oxygen, heart machine,

because everything's went a bit crazy on her.

For Barbara's mum, Helen, the move to the new hospital marks

the end of an era for her young family.

Well, obviously, I'll miss here.

I've been here... Got another four kids,

so I've been in and out of here a few times.

One's got epilepsy, he's been in getting his appendix out,

another one was in with baby bronchitis when he was born.

My memory is, obviously, going to be all the staff, really.

Everybody's really, really nice, you know.

They're very welcoming when you're coming in

and, you know, sometimes you come in sad...

They can make you happy, you know.

The only thing that I don't like

is you come in and there's only one lift working,

so you're standing half an hour trying to get in

or you need to walk up the stairs.

Looking forward to the new one, it's supposed to be a lot better.

A couple of weeks ago I thought I was moving just only one or two.

Last week it looked as if we were, potentially, Thursday/Friday,

we thought we might be moving up to 14.

Today we're maybe looking at about

ten cardiac patients, who will go with us

tomorrow to the new hospital.

One of the patients on Louise's list is 11-month-old Callum.

He was just one day old when he had his first heart operation,

and he's had several more since.

We've been in and out for his whole life, basically,

and this time he had another open-heart surgery done.

Sometimes it can be hard.

Just take it a day at a time,

see how he gets on every day.

Tiffany and Steven spent so much time in Yorkhill

that they chose to marry here.

Everybody seems to have a wee spiritual part of their being

when their kids are compromised.

Whether they've got a religious background or not,

they still want me to pray for their kids,

they still want you to support them in any way you can.

Come on in.

The hospital's chaplain, Jim,

has arranged a special ceremony

to mark the closing of the Cardiac Ward.

We've put something together for the change over

from the old hospital to the new.

It's just something to help say goodbye to friends,

say goodbye to old memories,

say goodbye to the children

who they've served so well here.

This is something that we never thought -

even although we'd had all these plans -

we never thought we'd get to this day

where we're actually saying goodbye to this place

and there's a lot of tears throughout this building

because there's so many memories.

I mean, goodness knows how many memories you've got, Louise.

I've been told stories of people working here since they were 17!

Really?

-Absolutely! This is the only place I've ever worked.

-Aww...!

Absolutely.

So let's begin. We're moving from this place...

..where we've strong memories

and emotional ties.

Let us be quiet together and bring to mind

the children we've cared for,

and the people we have worked with.

I know some of you aren't of a religious persuasion,

so I'll say something that makes sense to you all -

may the force be with you.

And also with you!

It's the end of a shift,

and the end of an era for the nurses of Schiehallion.

CHEERS AND LAUGHTER

# ..we'll be in Scotland afore ye

# For me and my true love will never meet again

# On the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. #

It is hard, because we've left lots of children behind, you know,

that...aren't here any more and it's quite hard.

Because they're still here for us,

and that's the hard part.

I'm just a big jessie, that's all it is!

The day of the move has finally arrived

and it's time to open the doors

to the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

Is it eight o'clock yet, guys?

It's four minutes to according to my watch.

So here we are at the end of a long and winding road.

It is almost eight o'clock on Wednesday the 10th June,

and we are about to throw open the doors

of our brand-new department,

providing somebody can bring us the key to open the door

because it's locked at the moment.

So, if I appear mildly frustrated about this, that's because I am.

The nursing staff put in a request for Gary Barlow to come and open it

but he was unavailable to come.

Apparently the Royals are all busy today

so it may actually fall to me to cut the ribbon.

In the old hospital,

Teara's raring to go as staff frantically clear the ward.

We just need a clear corridor. Ashley... Yep.

You now will take Madeline.

-That's fine.

-OK.

We have a plan in place, we've got a team over there,

and we're in constant contact with that team

and we're now just waiting on the ambulances

coming to get the first six patients across.

All right? Can I go?

Jean's co-ordinating the move of 13 patients,

and Teara will be the first to leave.

Well, I'm excited to see it,

after all the big build up, after everybody speaking about it.

So, yeah, I am excited to see the new hospital.

But, supposingly, it is all pink.

The new hospital is going to be pink.

Pink cupboards and pink nurses

and pink doctors...?

Huh? You're not allowed to come in unless you're pink.

I've been waiting for a nice desk for about 18 years,

and I have now got a pink desk.

Can you change the board one more time?

-Teara, who's she got?

-Teara has got Ally.

Veronica?

At the new hospital

the Children's A & E was supposed to officially open 15 minutes ago.

Our doors are locked and we don't have a key and...

Oh, right, they are.

No worries, I'm sure that'll be the only hiccup of the day.

Right, OK. Cheers, bye.

I actually didn't think it was going to be exciting enough,

so I've arranged for the doors not to be opened

until the last minute just to give an extra kind of frisson.

I'm going to sell them up the Barras.

Meanwhile, at Yorkhill the paramedics have arrived to begin moving

the first patients from the Cancer Ward.

-Mummy?

-Mm-hm. I see the ambulance person.

-Mm.

I can see the ambulance people, too.

Oh, where is he?

Right, guys, let's go. Right, see yous later.

Bye.

Bye, Teara!

They'll all start to go now.

Say, bye, to the hospital.

-OK, darling. Will I push you up?

-Yeah.

This way...

Right, tootsie. Are you ready?

-Cheers.

-See you.

The honour of being the first patient

in the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children belongs to Teara.

-Oh, look at the fishes.

-Fishes!

-See the fishes, look.

In the new Schiehallion Cancer Ward

the beds are ready to be filled and Teara, at least,

will be pleased that pink rumours are true.

-NURSES:

-Yay!

She's arrived safely,

but there's something missing in her new room.

Hello, Jane. It's Emma, hi.

Teara's arrived, but she's no pillows with her.

I'd asked to make sure that all the pillows come over,

because we don't have any.

So it's just to make sure that everybody else has got their pillows

because we don't have any.

OK, thanks. Bye.

Hi, Teara!

We've no pillows at the moment, Teara.

You want to have a wee look around?

-Mm-hm.

-Right, OK. Let's go, then.

Downstairs in the Children's A & E

it looks like they may finally be in luck.

Yes!

LOUD CHEERING

We are now open!

Do we get a speech, Scott?

They're 25 minutes late, but at last Scott can make his speech.

Here we are, who would've thought we would ever end up in this place.

Erm, great to be here, sad to leave Yorkhill,

start of a new journey, erm...

As I say, there was nobody more important

that we could find, than myself.

So, I would just like to say

I'm delighted to open the Emergency Department

in the new Children's Hospital.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

In the Cardiac Ward, Helen and four-month-old Barbara

are preparing for their move.

Right, so next thing is to try and put the monitor on the foot here.

Barbara is so ill that the medical team have decided she needs

special care for her journey,

so this team of anaesthetists

will make sure that she's as stable as possible during the move.

They're packing her into this vacuum mattress

which will form around her and hold her securely.

BABY CRIES

SHE QUIETENS

Some of the children need special care during the transfer,

whilst others are well enough to travel with their families.

Are you going to the new hospital? Right, say, "Bye!"

Blow kisses.

Barbara's ambulance will be full of medics

who need to closely monitor her

so she'll have to make her own way without her mum.

Thank you.

The last two patients are leaving Schiehallion!

Bye, James. We'll see you there.

-THEY CLAP AND CHEER

-Gone!

Well done.

He's - "I fell asleep in Yorkhill, woke up in a new hospital."

You're all smiles today.

The new wards are filling up

and Barbara's the last to arrive.

As the old ward lies empty,

the staff can finally enjoy a cup of tea.

Three cheers for Jean!

-ALL:

-Hurray!

-ALL:

-Hurray!

-ALL:

-Hurray!

Hello, there.

OK. What, are you declaring?

'OK, that's us received all the patients,

'so you're officially closed.'

-ALL:

-Whooo!

In the new Children's A & E that he helped to design,

Scott's impressed with how some of his ideas have been realised.

And we're now coming into the Majors area of the department,

so this is the area of the department where we would

look after our sicker patients.

It's what we call a ballroom design

so there's a central work space

and then we have 12 cubical areas round about.

So the idea of this design is it gives us excellent visibility,

so we can see and hear what's going on with patients.

Through these doors is the Minors area of our department.

A lot of the patients will present with a minor injury,

and we've developed an emergency nurse practitioner's service

to look after that specific group of patients.

And we've got six EMPs who are trained up and now working with us,

like Mark.

The advantage of having a team of nurse practitioners

is that they're able to quickly and efficiently get these patients

through the department, so it means they're not waiting for too long.

Mark is on his first shift in the new department.

He's got his first patient -

15-year-old Andrew, who has broken his ankle.

There we go.

I'm just waiting on the orthopaedic doctor coming down

and then we'll make a start.

Everything's brand-new to Mark

including the patient entertainment system.

It's more the staff getting the hang of it yet.

Angry Birds, Cut Rope, Fruit Ninja...

Midnight Basketball? I've not seen that one yet.

"Error" - argh!

OK. It'll keep people occupied while they're waiting.

If we give yous a shot!

I bet when we're no here, you sit here all night playing it.

-Exactly.

-Aye.

I've been to Yorkhill quite a few times,

and the Western, and that as well,

but this is definitely... This is something else, like.

You've got games and all that when you're in bed, so it's pretty good.

What are you doing?

-I'm playing Cut The Rope.

-Oh, I like that one.

I used to have that on my phone.

Normally the ones I like are the ones I have to delete cos I spend...

-That much time on them, aye.

-Far too much time, yeah.

The state-of-the-art entertainment systems were introduced

to the new hospital to help distract patients from stressful situations

and it appears to be working for the staff, too.

-Poor guy going hungry.

-I know.

-You OK?

-Aye.

We're very busy just now.

Sorry.

-How you doing, you all right?

-Aye, all right. Aye.

I'm Anzor, one of the orthopaedic registrars. Erm...

You want to put that down for a second.

-OK. Are you his mother?

-Yes, I am.

OK, I'm one of the orthopaedic doctors on call.

So, have you been able to walk on it?

I think it's fantastic.

Compared to the old one, which we loved,

but more like you would a slightly doddering old relative

that's maybe not at their best.

There's a good quick throughput,

a good bit of banter at the desk.

Definitely, yeah.

We used to have nurses' room and the doctors' room

and it was a wee bit divided. We're now all together.

That's right - big happy family. And excellent visibility round about us.

We have got excellent visibility. I suppose the...

One of the interesting things we've had to adapt to is the noise.

-Yeah, it is very noisy.

-Previously, we had rooms with doors

where once the children were in there,

-there was a degree of sound proofing and now it's sort of...

-Very loud.

But then you couldn't tell what was going on behind the closed door.

-True.

-Yes, but sometimes that was preferable.

-True.

In the sort of...crying category.

However, we're sort of learning to slightly zone that out.

But crying and noise comes with the territory...

so you might have to consider a career change,

-if that's going to upset you greatly.

-It's too late for me.

There you go.

The Children's A & E has its own self-contained department

and won't have to cope with the same numbers as the adult A & E next door

which is struggling with patient waiting times.

That's four hospitals trying to merge into one.

It HAD to be anticipated there would be teething problems with that,

and I think a bit of a grace period has to be given to allow that.

But, yeah, from our point of view,

we were one hospital moving into one hospital,

and from the A & E point of view,

we were one small A & E moving into a much larger A & E.

So for us it was very exciting and we hope,

and I think we are showing, that it is definitely helping.

On the Schiehallion Cancer Ward

the staff are getting used to their new surroundings.

One of the biggest changes for staff here

is the new racetrack design

which has forced them to modify their style of nursing.

So the ward design has changed because back in Schiehallion

it was a straight ward

so you could see all the rooms.

Whereas you'll see that this ward goes round in a curve

so it means you can't see all the rooms.

When I first came over I just thought,

"Oh, no, how are we going to nurse this?"

So I was a bit concerned

but that's when we decided...

There was a few of us all sat down and tried to work out

what would be the best,

and we decided to divide the ward up into three teams.

The reason why we've done that

is so that there's always a nurse in the area,

if patients are buzzing,

they need your attention, there'll be someone to go in

and see the patient.

I think it still feels like I'm helping out another ward,

it doesn't feel like this is where I work,

but I think that'll take a few weeks or months.

But, yeah, I'm sure I'll settle in.

The superhospital campus

is one of the most advanced research units in the world

and will help make Glasgow a global leader

in medical research and clinical trials.

Emily's taking part in a new medical trial

that's at the cutting edge of molecular biology.

She's being given a treatment that may trigger an immune response

to destroy her cancer cells.

I'm the only person on this trial in Scotland at the moment,

so I kind of feel like a bit of a guinea pig.

Emily's on a strong cocktail of drugs including morphine and ketamine.

Last time I was on the ketamine

-I thought there was a rabbit in my cupboard.

-Did you?

-Yeah.

Only a rabbit? That's quite good!

And now there's, now there's, now there's a rabbit above my door.

-At least we know there's...

-I know.

There IS an actual rabbit there.

Have a look to see the animals that are around then, at least,

you'll know what's real and what's not.

Along the corridor, Teara and Sara

are enjoying their new surroundings, too.

This room's much nicer and bigger and brighter.

It's really nice.

This room's better because it's more space in it.

Teara doesn't just have a better room here,

she'll also have access

to a treatment that wasn't available at Yorkhill.

The superhospital was designed to be interconnected

which means that Teara is now able to benefit from a treatment

offered at the adult hospital.

She'll receive an ultraviolet light therapy

that should help to reduce the inflammation of her skin.

In the new Cardiac Ward,

another child who's benefiting from the design of the hospital

is one-year-old Callum, who is waiting for his first surgery here.

He was born with a rare genetic disorder causing a hole in his heart

and has undergone many surgeries already during his young life.

Hopefully, this is...the last piece of the puzzle,

and then once that's all out of the way,

then, hopefully, we can get you home, eh?

Today, Callum's going to have a feeding tube

inserted into his stomach.

Just come this way.

The new theatres are now on the same floor as the Cardiac Ward,

this means it's just a short walk for Callum's mum to take him

through for his operation.

The theatres in the old Yorkhill were downstairs on the ground floor

so you had to go down the lift.

It was a wee bit of a distance from whatever ward you were at,

but this one's a lot better and a lot easier and more calmer.

It means I can give him cuddles on the way over

and before I basically let them put him to sleep.

What's that? What's that...?!

The new art work is designed to take children's minds off

painful or difficult procedures

and it seems to be working for Callum.

The architect's vision has been brought to life

and it's a big hit with the children.

Wow!

The clinics are all finished

so me and Lucas are coming down to have some fun. Aren't we?

Aren't we, Lucas?

Mel and her two-year-old son Lucas, who has a rare chromosome disorder,

often spend weeks at a time in the Children's Hospital,

so they're delighted with the new space and play areas.

Lucas doesn't like to go down here

when there's too many people during the day,

so we like to come down here once it's all empty,

so Lucas can play about.

Wow...

Wow.

Oh, the fish. And what do the fish do?

-Go, go, go.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

This hospital's not just better for the younger children

there's plenty for the older ones, too.

The Teenage Cancer Trust Unit has been purpose-built for the hospital

and has games, music and movies available for the patients.

It has a separate social space away from the wards,

and provides classes, including guitar lessons, for the young adults.

I love it. You spend most of the time through here.

It's nice to break it up from like your bedroom

and then you're sitting room.

So you're not sitting watching TV in your bedroom all day.

Emily's finished her most recent round of treatment

and is looking forward to a break with her family.

I got unhooked from my mobile infuser,

antibody infuser, just about a couple of hours ago

so, yeah, I'm free to go back to our flat now,

and don't have to come...

I've got a few more tests and stuff this next couple of weeks

but apart from that I'm free.

Darling little brother has arrived,

so we're going to have lots of fun.

It's just over three weeks

since all four hospitals moved into Scotland's superhospital

and it's the official opening day.

So the Queen's coming to visit today

so the hospitals on lock down from 12 till three

so we're getting out of here, aren't we, Lucas? Yeah.

Anne Harkness did keep her job,

and is feeling much more positive about the hospital's future.

It's been a really bumpy ride,

it's been a huge amount of work

to try and maintain everybody's confidence and motivation

as we've gone forward.

The kind of physical effort of working so hard over a few weeks,

I think, took its toll on everybody - just practically -

but the fact we've got today's official opening as a point of celebration

and it's hitting the summer holiday time,

I think, is making everybody feel a lot better.

The Queen's officially opening the hospital today,

and the NHS board has decided that it will be renamed in her honour

as the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

This means that all of the existing hospital signs

will need to be changed.

It's also been decided

that the word sick is dated

and not reflective of the new 21st-century facilities,

so the Children's Hospital

shall now be known as the Royal Hospital for Children.

Signs aside...

things are looking up for the superhospital.

A & E has moved beyond its teething problems

and is much closer to reaching the Scottish Government's targets.

The number of patients being seen and treated within four hours

is now up - 92.4%.

Thumbs up, Lucas! Waaay...!

Thumbs up, we're going home!

Say bye!

Bye!