New £7 million hospital for Scotland
Patients in Pitlochry, Scotland are benefiting from a £7 million state of the art hospital which was officially opened by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon this week.
The new development combines the new
Services at the hospital site include a Atholl Unit, a seven-bed specialist dementia assessment unit, a casualty service operating Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm with GP s providing medical cover, and an out-of-hours minor illness/injuries unit operating Monday to Friday from 6pm to 11pm and Saturday/Sunday public holidays from 11am to 11pm.
The facility creates a 'one stop shop' for healthcare in Highland Perthshire in an environment which makes use of the latest technology.
Ms Sturgeon, who joined Secretary John Swinney and staff for the opening of the new centre, explained: "Shifting the balance of care from the main acute hospital centres to local communities wherever it's clinically safe and sensible to do is a key gla for the NHS in
She continued: "I don't think we can overemphasise how important it is to people to have access to local services and to avoid the need to the larger centres. It's therefore great to see a wide range of outpatients clinics and other services being delivered from a hospital in the heart of the community."
The partners in the scheme included Atholl Medical Practice, Perth & Kinross Council, the Scottish Ambulance Service, and Balhousie Care Homes and Medical Centres Scotland (MCS).
Words: Maria Bracken
