£29m plans for 'health and care village' in city centre

AMBITIOUS proposals were unveiled yesterday by NHS Grampian to develop a "health and care village" in the heart of Aberdeen.

The planned health centre would be located on Frederick Street, providing a wide range of out-patient diagnostic and treatment services.

The 29 million project will incorporate almost 300 rooms spread over three floors, plus a multi-storey car park to the north side of Frederick Street to replace existing parking.

A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: "The village will, where appropriate, shift the balance of care from a hospital to a community setting, ensuring that specialist services at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary are more available for those who need urgent or specialised services."

She added: "The health and care village will provide additional services to those already available in local communities and will complement the health and care services provided in homes, GP surgeries and health centres throughout the city.

"It will include a wide range of services under one roof, including X-ray and ultrasound, minor surgery, dentistry, specialist physiotherapy, dietetics, cardiology, podiatry, speech and language therapy, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and Grampian-wide sexual health services."

Heather Kelman, the general manager of Aberdeen City Community Health Partnership, said: "This is an extremely exciting project for the NHS in Aberdeen with significantly different design to our present services."