A STROKE survivor has one of the first patients to be treated at Glasgow's new super hospital.

Linda Gordon, 57, arrived for her appointment at the £842million South Glasgow University Hospital yesterday (mon), which replaces four hospitals in the city.

With 1,109 beds and around 10,000 staff, health board bosses had been planning the opening for months.

Mrs Gordon, who is due to have surgery on her hand, said: "This is how a hospital should look. I think the hospital is amazing. It is so futuristic and the space and light is brilliant.

"It's far superior to any other hospital I've been in."

Her husband, Alistair, 58, added: "It's like an airport, especially with the self check-in screens."

Jimmy McLellan was also in the first batch of patients to enter the hospital, which stretches up the entire height of the 14-storey building.

The 62-year-old, from Bridgeton, had an appointment to discuss treatment for a stomach condition.

He said: "It's like a five-star hotel, it's out of this world. I know the hospital has cost a lot of money, but it is definitely money well spent."

Mr McLellan checked in at one of the hospital's self-service check-in machines before seeing his doctor.

"It's very futuristic and although it all seems pretty unusual right now, it's definitely the way forward."

The three acute hospitals which are shutting - the Southern General, the Victoria Infirmary and the Western Infirmary - along withYorkhill Children's Hospital will each close over the course of a weekend with a two-week gap between each one.

Planned surgery will stop at each site two days before the move, with some patients offered operations at the Golden Jubilee or private hospitals to prevent queues building up.

A&E departments will continue seeing patients until around 8am on the Saturdays when they are due to shut.

Robert Calderwood, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chief executive, said: "The completion of this Scottish Government-funded project has been a major accomplishment and is testament to every single individual who has worked on this project since the blueprints were first drawn up.

"It is now all about the patients and we hope they are as pleased with the new hospitals as we are.

"While the migration of all services will be phased over the next two months, when both hospitals are fully operational they will revolutionise healthcare for patients."

A drop of 561,000 leaflets to every household in the NHS GGC region will tell people about the new arrangements.

Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, Shona Robison, said: "Building Scotland's largest ever hospital has been a long and complex challenge, so bringing this project in on time and on budget is a real achievement."

"These are state-of-the-art facilities, at the forefront of the latest advances in healthcare, and will transform the care patients receive from their NHS."