WORK on the new East Lothian Community Hospital is set to get under way next month, it has been announced today – with some patients being relocated from Haddington to Tranent as a result.

Financial contracts were signed with the Scottish Government, paving the way for the long-awaited project, which is being run by NHS Lothian and East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, to get under way.

Discussions for the new hospital, which is being built on the site of Roodlands Hospital in Haddington, have been ongoing for more than a decade.

Health secretary Shona Robison said the start of work was an "exciting milestone".

She added: "It has taken many years of careful planning to get to this point, but I am delighted to be able to announce that construction work will start in a few weeks on this £70 million project.

“The new hospital will be a significant addition to the local healthcare facilities available in East Lothian – bringing services back to the area and helping more patients get treatment closer to home.

"I look forward to work getting under way and seeing this fantastic new facility become a reality.”

David Small, chief officer, East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, added: “I am thrilled that we have reached this point and I’m delighted to say that construction of the new hospital will soon start.

“The community hospital will make a huge difference to how and where people in the county are treated. "

To allow work to start, a number of buildings need to be demolished.

As a result, patients from East Fortune House at Roodlands will be relocated to Crookston Care Home in Tranent.

The NHS floor at Crookston Care Home currently provides 'step down' care for East Lothian patients who have, in the main, been transferred from Edinburgh hospitals.

A new step down facility for East Lothian patients is being created in Liberton Hospital in Edinburgh to allow this move to take place.

The physiotherapy department at Roodlands will also transfer to Herdmanflat Hospital as part of this process.