The purpose-built centre which is being proposed could also become home to a new public-sector residential care home for the elderly and a surgery for the town's GPs.

Talks over the ambitious multi-million pound project involving Highland Council, NHS Highland and local doctors have been taking place behind the scenes, it has emerged. All parties involved have now agreed it is something they would like to take forward.

Highland Council's SNP/Independent administration pledged last summer to improve residential care facilities for the elderly locally, presently provided at Grant House in the town and the Wade Centre in Kingussie.

NHS Highland bosses believe this has opened the door for the construction of a joint facility to replace Grant House, which needs to be modernised, and the ageing Ian Charles Hospital.

Local GPs who work out of a surgery by the hospital have also been involved in talks about incorporating their premises into any new building.

"We believe there is a lot of potential in this idea, and everyone involved is very keen to get it off the ground," said Nigel Small, general manager of NHS Highland's South East Highland Community Health Partnership.

"I would stress that we are at the very early stages of discussions, but Highland Council has committed to developing Grant House and it seems very sensible, given the proximity to the hospital, to look at combining the two. It is too good an opportunity to pass up."

Mr Small said any new facility would not mean a reduction in services currently being offered locally, and added: "We are looking at what economies of scale could be involved, and any cash freed would be used to develop services further."

He stressed that he and his colleagues did not want to centralise all services for the area to one location, and revealed they were interested in creating similar shared health projects in both Aviemore and Kingussie.

No decision had yet been taken on private sector involvement in the construction. However, work has already started on a similar replacement of Nairn's Town and County Hospital and two local GP practices.

After several years of planning and negotiations with the private sector healthcare developer Prime plc, Morrison Construction started work on the scheme last month.

Jaci Douglas, Highland councillor for Badenoch and Strathspey, who has been involved in the Grantown talks, said she was excited to hear that a stage had now been reached where staff and patients could be informed.

"As a concept, the NHS and Highland Council are working together to make something bigger and better for the community," she said.

"It would benefit from shared budgets, shared space and shared expertise.

"This is a great opportunity, and I hope everyone can get around the table to find a way of moving this forward. It could be a model for the whole of the Highlands and even Scotland.

"This is a perfect example of joined-up working by the public sector."

Ms Douglas, who lives in Grantown, added: "At the moment we need to explore every option to make sure we get a building which offers the best possible facilities for the community."

Jim Beveridge, chairman of Grantown Community Council, was more cautious in his welcome.

"On the face of it, this sounds good, but we will need a lot more detail before we can say if it is what we need," he said.

"It would certainly be good for Grantown to have everything under one roof, but we need to know if the authorities are going to honour their pledge to put extra beds in Grant House and if the hospital will be bigger."

Brian Robertson, Highland Council's area community care manager, said the new facility could help allow more elderly people to remain in their own homes for longer instead of being forced into residential care.

"In keeping with recent Scottish Government announcements, Highland Council has committed additional resources to support the increased use of telecare and care at home," he said.

"If we can work together to link these homecare services with a new health and social care facility in Grantown, there is the potential for the Grantown area to be a centre of excellence for joined-up working, and this could only bring huge benefits for patients, service users and the wider local community.

"There is a lot of discussion required, but we may be at the start of something very exciting."

The discussions were also welcomed by superintendent physiotherapist Fiona Grant, NHS Highland's Badenoch and Strathspey locality clinical lead.

"This could be wonderful news for local people," she said.

"It makes sense to put all of these services under one roof so the organisations that are caring for people are talking to each other regularly.

"It would lead to more flexible ways of caring for the local population. It is still early days, but I am really keen that we explore the potential of this idea."

An official spokesman for NHS Highland confirmed discussions with the Highland Council were now underway and that the decision had been taken to inform the surrounding community about the project.

"Although these are just exploratory discussions, staff, residents and members of the community are being informed of this possible opportunity to improve facilities and link health and social care professionals more closely for the benefit of patients, residents and public."

The oldest part of the hospital, which was paid for by Ian Charles, 8th Earl of Seafield, and his mother Caroline Stuart, Countess of Seafield, was opened in 1884.

Highland councillors meeting in Inverness in July last year agreed to build and run the new care facility in Grantown, ending 18 months of uncertainty for Grant House patients and their families. It is scheduled to be constructed some time between 2008/09 and 2012/13.

The facility had been one of six council-owned residential care homes in the region controversially proposed to be transferred to the private sector by the previous council administration.

Following the U-turn, the capital costing of building the five new care homes in Grantown, Inverness, Fort William, Muir of Ord and Tain was estimated at £21.5 million.

There are plans for the Wade Centre in Kingussie, the other affected facility, to have its care beds incorporated into the new larger premises to replace Grant House.

g.burke@sbherald.co.uk

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