Two health centres in Badenoch and Strathspey to get significant upgrades
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NHS Highland chiefs have outlined significant upgrades for two health centres in the strath to coincide with the closure of the long-serving community hospitals in both towns.
They also revealed Ian Charles Hospital in Grantown will continue to have a role to play for a short while at least, when the new Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital opens in Aviemore this autumn.
Meanwhile, work has just got under way on an extension for Kingussie Medical Practice to accommodate some of the outpatients services currently run at nearby St Vincent’s Hospital.
Grantown Health Centre is to be refurbished and extended once Ian Charles Hospital has been vacated late August or early September, with construction work expected to take around nine months.
This will be carried out on a phased basis, starting with the refit of the Grantown hospital to allow services currently delivered at the health centre – such as GP and nurse appointments, physio and visiting clinicians – to move in.
This temporary move will enable the building work to commence at the medical practice itself with services returning once the work is completed.
Grantown-based Dr Andrew Melton said: “The building work will include the upgrading of fittings in the health centre to comply with modern infection control standards, soundproofing and replacing the heating and windows to improve temperature control and energy efficiency in the building.
“The building will have a slightly different layout in order to house the minor injuries unit currently situated in Ian Charles Community Hospital (ICCH) and give us purpose-built facilities for telephone and video consulting.
“The ‘new’ part of ICCH – where the minor injuries unit and in-patient physio departments are currently – will then be demolished to allow the building of a small extension which will give us much-needed additional consulting rooms, storage space and a plant room to house the boiler and electrical equipment that currently supplies us from the ICCH side of the site.”
Dr Melton continued: “We expect that we will have several months of building work while this work is ongoing, but it means we can honour the commitment made to providing the services currently available in the health centre, but in much better facilities.
“We are very excited about the plans. Bringing the building up to a modern specification in terms of insulation and double glazing will both keep staff warmer and able to function better, and also help us play our part in reducing energy use and CO2 emissions.
“We have been so short of space in recent years that it has impacted on our ability to deliver clinical care and medical education for students and trainees.
“This development will help to ease these problems.”
Meanwhile, the construction of an extension to the Kingussie GP practice – which has been on the wish list of local GPs for many years – began earlier this spring.
It will be able to accommodate vital local services following the closure of St Vincent’s Hospital – where they are currently provided – including:
* Physiotherapy.
* Occupational therapy.
* Podiatry.
* Speech and language therapy.
* Allow visiting consultants in medicine for the elderly and psychiatry of old age to hold regular clinics in the building.
Dr David Pinney, of Kingussie Medical Practice, said: “Anyone visiting the GP practice recently will have noticed mobile units, railings and builders busy at work.
“The extreme weather we had earlier in the year delayed the beginning of construction, but we are pleased to say that we are making good progress.
“The redesign of health and social care services in the strath aims to ensure services remain local for people in the area.
“The extension will enable the GP practice to accommodate various outpatients services which currently run from St Vincent’s as well as providing much-needed space for our team of GPs and support staff.
“It also allows for future expansion of GP training and new services such as first contact physiotherapy.
“Staff at the practice are delighted at the prospect of three new consulting rooms and extra office space and we hope our patients will be, too.”
The extension is expected to be completed by October.
Alison MacKeachan, practice medical secretary, said: “I am so excited about the extension, because it will be fresh and new and future-proof the practice.”
NHS Highland was unable to give a figure for the two projects, but said: “The funding for both refurbishment projects form part of the wider redesign of health and social care services business case for Badenoch and Strathspey approved by the Scottish Government.”
On the long-term future of the two hospital sites, the spokesperson said: “The future of the vacated hospitals will be progressed in line with Scottish Government property management process and will be subject to offer to other public sector organisations in the first instance prior to open market sale.
“Communities have the ability to register an interest in buildings under the Land Reform Act through an appropriate community body.”
