Plans submitted for Aviemore community hospital

NHS Highland has submitted a planning application for permission to build a new community hospital in Aviemore.The application relates to the land south of the former call centre in the Technology Park in Aviemore. Purchase negotiations for the land are also reaching the final stages.Once completed, the new facility will feature a community hospital and health centre and it will bring together inpatient services with Aviemore Medical Practice, the Scottish Ambulance Service and community health and care teams.The new community hospital and Medical Practice will feature:24 inpatient beds12 consulting/treatment rooms in Aviemore Medical PracticeThree Minor Injuries/Out-of-Hours treatment roomsScottish Ambulance Service baseX-ray facilitiesOutpatient department with six consulting/clinic rooms; a group therapy room; physiotherapy gym; podiatry and dental treatment roomsAllied Health Professionals; physiotherapy; occupational therapy; podiatry; speech and language and dieteticsOffice base for NHS Highland community integrated teams and Highland Council care and learning staffThe new facility will also include a transport “hub at the hospital” with a drop-off area at the front entrance for commercial buses, community and local transport providers. Electronic bus timetable information will be provided both inside and outside the building.A minimum of 128 parking spaces are proposed for patients, visitors and staff and high-quality cycle shelters will be provided near the main entrance.The landscaping at the hospital will include a therapy garden area for local community groups, and paths through the site will encourage continued community use of the amenity space to the rear of the hospital and link with proposed active travel routes in the wider Aviemore area.The new community hospital in Aviemore is being designed and built by hub North Scotland Ltd. Balfour Beatty is the main contractor working alongside architectural firms Oberlanders based in Edinburgh and Portree-based Rural Design – and engineering firms Waterman Group and Rybka.The full business case for the project is scheduled to be presented to the Scottish Government in early 2019, with the construction of the hospitals commencing once this is approved.