Plans for new NHS Highland healthcare centre in Highland capital
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Revised plans for a new elective care centre to serve the north of Scotland are being recommended for approval.
The 24-bed project, which will provide vital knee, hip and cataract surgery alongside a full range of ophthalmology outpatient services for the whole of the north, is being led by NHS Highland and will be based at Inverness Campus.
It was initially scheduled to open in 2021 at a cost of £16 million, but it emerged earlier this year the cost could be as high as £41.3 million, with construction being completed by September 2022.
A report to be discussed by the south planning applications committee next Tuesday states the new application is a redesign and reduction of the previously planned development, but the overall quality has not been affected.
Planners want a condition to be attached for the introduction of a “bus gate” through Raigmore Hospital, though NHS Highland previously asked for this to be waived, citing safety concerns about proximity to the helicopter pad.
But bus company Stagecoach warned outlying communities could lose services if the condition is waived.
