The opening of the new £150 million Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh has been delayed until next year, it has been announced.

NHS Lothian has confirmed the facility, which was originally due to open in autumn 2017, will not be ready until May 2018 at the earliest.

Officials had previously planned to open the new hospital in spring next year.

An NHS Lothian spokeswoman said: "We are revising our internal staff moving dates to ensure that all services move in a safe and effective manner.

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"We anticipate the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Department for Clinical Neurosciences and Child & Adolescents Mental Health Services will open to patients in spring 2018, however, until we have the revised migration timetable agreed these dates cannot be confirmed.

"This is a huge project and it's vital that the building is fully operational before it opens to ensure we provide the best possible care to all our patients.

Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said families, parents and patients across the Lothians and eastern Scotland will be "deeply disappointed and frustrated" by the news.

"This appears to be yet another delay to the opening of a vital new hospital facility, despite NHS Lothian guaranteeing that it would open next spring," he said.

"Families deserve answers and clarification from both NHS Lothian and the Scottish Government about the reasons behind this delay and I will be seeking these on behalf of constituents."

(LM)