hub North Scotland has announced that Balfour Beatty has been appointed the main ‘tier 1’ contractor for NHS Highland’s proposed new hospitals

The two hospital are the Badenoch and Strathspey (in Aviemore) and the Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross (in Broadford).

As a ‘tier 1’ supplier for hub North Scotland, Balfour Beatty International (North Scotland) will work alongside the project’s design consultants – architectural firms Oberlanders based in Edinburgh and Portree-based Rural Design – who were appointed in June, in conjunction with engineering design firms Waterman Group and Rybka.

The hospitals are being produced by hub North Scotland as part of a £30 million (US$40 million) design, build, finance and maintain contract for NHS Highland which will see both projects ‘bundled’ to deliver best value.

Both hospitals form part of wider redesigns across Badenoch and Strathspey and in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross. In Badenoch and Strathspey, the redesign will see the eventual closures of Ian Charles Community Hospital in Grantown-on-Spey and St Vincent’s Hospital in Kingussie.

Meanwhile, the arrangements on Skye will see a new, modern integrated health and social care ‘hub’ in Broadford and a ‘spoke’ facility in Portree with all the inpatient services provided from the ‘hub’.

NHS Highland’s head of estates Eric Green said:

“NHS Highland is delighted to be working with Balfour Beatty on these exciting projects. We look forward to delivering high-quality facilities that the communities of Badenoch and Strathspey and Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross can be proud of.

“Balfour Beatty have shown a desire to engage communities proactively to ensure that we can maximise the local benefits of these substantial investments during construction and through to operations.”

NHS Highland’s deputy directions of operations for the health board’s Inner Moray Firth operational unit, Georgia Haire, said:

“The appointment of Balfour Beatty as the main contractor is another milestone in this project for the Badenoch and Strathspey community.

“Design work for the new Community Hospital is underway, with initial design ideas on display at a public drop in event on Thursday, 5th September. This event is being held in the Aviemore Community centre from 3.30pm-7.30pm and technical representatives will be on hand to answer any queries.”

Gill McVicar, director of NHS Highland’s North and West operational unit, said:

“This is another very exciting step in the process towards developing a new facility for the people of Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross. I understand that the contractor will be starting exploratory work on site in the near future.”

hub North Scotland is the driving force behind the planning, procurement and delivery of community-based infrastructure projects working with partnership and private investors; Scottish Government involvement through the Scottish Futures Trust and some 16 health boards and local authorities across the north of Scotland.