The health facility, being delivered for NHS Lothian with development partner hub South East, has reached the fully weathertight stage of construction.

Built on the existing Roodlands hospital site, the installation of the roof and windows for the three-storey, 22,000sqm development were completed before the end of 2018.

Externally, the render and cladding of the development is nearing completion giving passers by an idea of what their new community hospital will look like once finished. Works on the drop off zone at the entrance of the facility and tar surfacing are also well underway.

Inside the development the hard work of the site team continues with internal partitioning, decorating and services connection works progressing uninterrupted across the facility.

Morrison Construction project director, Philip Galbraith, said: “We are delighted with the progress on the project. Due to the winter weather it was important for us to reach this milestone.

“While there are still external works to be undertaken more of our focus will now move to the internal works of the development. Due to the phased construction programme, different sections of the build are at different stages of completion and our focus is now on the planned sequence as we work toward completion.

“Members of the community will have the opportunity to see the project up close during Open Doors Week in March, an event this site also participated in last year.”

Richard Park, operations director for hub South East, said: “Following the successful delivery of the Outpatients Department last year, it’s exciting to see the remainder of the development taking shape.

“This is the largest value project on site in Scotland through the Hub programme and we’re proud that it’s progressing so well.

“We’re now another step closer to the overall Community Hospital becoming a reality and helping improve the healthcare facilities available to residents in East Lothian.”

Alison MacDonald, interim director of health for East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “The progress to date shows the significant scale of the development and the plans for enhancing more joined-up health and social care services through the East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership are taking shape.

“The new facilities will see a return of some services to East Lothian with an increase of inpatient beds. With the help of our patients, this project will allow our staff to continue to provide safe, effective healthcare and rehabilitation.

“We look forward to this project completing later this year.”

The full programme of works for the hospital re-development, the last phase including the construction of a new car park, should be complete by early 2020.