Plans for new twin theatre suite for kids are approved

DETAILED design plans for the new twin paediatric theatre suite at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital have been approved by clinical staff and the Archie Foundation.

The announcement was made following a year of fundraising by the Archie Foundation — the official children’s charity for Ninewells — and three months after a team was appointed to the Children’s Theatre Suite Project.

The team’s task was to turn the abstract plans for a children’s specialised theatre at Ninewells into reality.

The plans were drawn up following extensive consultation with the staff who will work in the unit and were approved by the project board.

Dr Grant Rodney, paediatric consultant anaesthetist and a member of the project team, said: “This is a fundamentally important stage of the development from a clinical perspective.

“Every aspect focuses on the safety and wellbeing of the children and we have carried out consultations with all the specialist groups within the hospital that will use the theatres.

“We are very pleased with the outcome of these consultations.

“It was a good approach asking the teams to look at different variations and rank them according to their needs and it’s worked out well.”

Dr Rodney said the team is now in a position to work up the final designs for the look and feel of the space.

The plans will boost the children’s hospital’s capacity with twin operating theatres and a day-case ward.

Dave Tipping, director of projects for Archie, said he was delighted with the chosen plans.

He said: “We are confident we now have the space everyone needs.”

A dedicated children’s theatre opened in Ninewells in 2004, taking on about 50% of children’s surgical activity.

However, approximately 1,500 children per year still do not receive surgery in this facility.

The new unit will increase this capacity to an additional 1,000 young people receiving their operations in a state-of-the-art facility.

The project has a budget of £6 million — £2m of which the Archie Foundation aimed to raise through its fundraising campaigns.

The Oor Wullie Bucket Trail was the foundation’s first fundraising drive, raising £883,000, nearly half of the target.