New Fort hospital plans well under way

PLANS to build a new hospital in Fort William are well under way, according to the project’s senior officer.

NHS Highland operations director Gill McVicar has been named as the senior responsible officer for the project and says work on a replacement for Belford Hospital at Blar Mhor is going well.

‘I am pleased to confirm there is now an established structure to our internal management of the project and this will enable more rapid progress to be made,’ Mrs McVicar explained.

The health board announced in September that funding for a replacement for the Belford Hospital was included in NHS Highland’s five-year capital plan.

A steering group, including local clinical staff and members of the community, is overseeing work to prepare an initial agreement for the project.

Mrs McVicar continued: ‘The aim is to have a draft clinical model by the end of January 2018 and this will be shared with internal and external stakeholders before refining and presenting to the Scottish Government in May 2018. The initial agreement is the next stage in the process around six months later. Thereafter we will progress to the outline business case by summer 2019.’

In October 2015, the Highland Council bought land in Fort William at Blar Mhor from Tesco for £2 million. The site has been made available for a new hospital, which could incorporate a new science academy for the West Highland College.