The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Staff back plans for children’s hospital
Proposal for operating theatres and day case ward at Ninewells takes a major step forward
Design proposals for a major upgrade to Tayside Children’s Hospital have been approved by clinical staff and the ARCHIE Foundation, The Courier can exclusively reveal.
The project team working on the new children’s theatre suite backed the plans following extensive consultation with the staff who will work in the unit.
It marks a major step forward for the investment by NHS Tayside and the ARCHIE Foundation, which is raising £2 million to transform healthcare provision for children in Tayside.
The new plans will boost the children’s hospital’s capacity through twin operating theatres and a day case ward at Ninewells.
They were agreed at a meeting of the project team last week, but had been kept firmly under wraps until now.
Dr Grant Rodney, paediatric consultant anaesthetist with NHS Tayside and a member of the project team, explained: “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 outcome of those 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.
“Of the proposals left on the table there was a clear winner and the other options were out of the race.
“The project team, with support from ARCHIE, are now in a position to work up the final designs for the look and the feel of the space.”
While the precise details of the plans have yet to be rubber stamped, The Courier understands the 1,200 square metre development will be situated in the former Dundee University Maternal and Child Health Sciences (MACHS) ward, which sits adjacent to the current Tayside Children’s Hospital.
The existing outside play area, which the is located between the medical ward and the new facility, will be expanded upon and will be accessible to patients and their families.
The new facility will also benefit from direct sunlight into the building – an important factor for the children and the theatre staff.
Dave Tipping, director of projects for ARCHIE, said he was delighted with the chosen plans and added: “We are very confident that we now have the space everyone needs.
“We have worked up a very detailed schedule and during this stage of the process the design subgroup of the main project team, which includes key clinical staff, people from ARCHIE and the appointed architect, meet weekly.
“We still have a lot of work to do on the plans, but we will soon be at the point where we can share them with the public who are helping us to raise the money,” he said.
“For me, that’s the really exciting stage.”
It is fitting staff have been consulted over designs for the new children’s health suite at Ninewells Hospital. Long after fundraising has been completed and building work finished, it is the dedicated medical workers who will ensure the facility runs as needed.
Too often, public projects are completed by designers and architects without enough thought given to those who will use them.
The ARCHIE Foundation project continues to impress.