Councillors approve £56M NHS Grampian elective care centre

Plans for a £56M extension to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, providing the hospital with a new state-of-the-art elective care centre, have been approved unanimously by city councillors.

NHS Grampian’s plans for the four-storey expansion are to use the facility for day patient services for a number of surgical and medical specialities. It will also provide ‘one-stop clinics’ for patients requiring urology, respiratory and dermatology appointments.

A dedicated endoscopy unit and outpatient imaging services, including MRI, CT and X-ray facilities, are planned in the new facility. Teaching and meeting spaces have also been incorporated into the plans.

Set to be built on the hospital’s Foresterhill Health Campus, other health services which currently sit within the footprint of the extension are set to be moved elsewhere on the site. It will also form part of a new main entrance to the hospital.

NHS Grampian acknowledged it was “difficult to plan for unknown future healthcare needs” but have ensured there are a number of future-proofing features built into the designs, providing future flexibility and resilience for the centre if necessary.

These includes steps such as designing rooms to a standard size, while maintaining the potential to change with relative ease should the use of the centre need to be altered. In June, health bosses approved an additional £1M spend on the project to help cover any potential changes needed due to coronavirus.