By Philip Murray

PLANS TO DEMOLISH Stracathro Hospital’s Macmillan Centre and replace it with a new building elsewhere in the grounds could be scrapped, it is understood.

Last summer plans for a major new mental health unit at the hospital were given outline permission by councillors.

The centre, which is planned to replace the nearby in-patient unit at Sunnyside Hospital, is set to feature some 52 beds, an eight-place day hospital and other facilities employing 120 staff.

This is still “100% guaranteed” to go ahead sometime in 2011 or 2012 but there have been increasing rumours within the community suggesting the Macmillan Centre would not be demolished—despite the fact it sits in the same spot as the building which would house this new unit.

And while NHS Tayside will not confirm that the existing Macmillan Centre has been given a definite reprieve, a spokesperson has gone on record to say that they will not demolish it if they can “avoid it”.

If the Macmillan Centre is saved from the wreckers’ ball then the new mental health unit would be built elsewhere on the site—however no final decision has been made over its exact location and none is expected in the immediate future.

“The in-patient facilities will, as planned, be moving from Sunnyside Royal Hospital to the Stracathro site in 2011-12,” said Dave Charles, procurement lead for the Mental Health Development Project.

“A number of possible locations have been looked at on the Stracathro site but no final decision has been made.

“We have previously looked at a number of possible sites within Stracathro for the new unit. We never wanted to knock down the Macmillan Centre but it seemed like the ‘least worst’ option at the time.

“However there are a number of options available now and these have been assessed.

“We will try to avoid demolishing it but no final decision has been made.

Mr Charles also stressed that the mental health unit would definitely be coming to Stracathro even though its final location on the site had not been finalised.

“We are well down the road of moving the mental health unit to Stracathro so there is no chance of it not going to Stracathro, it’s just a question of where it will be on the site,” he continued.

“It may even be on part of the land already earmarked for it in the earlier plans. There are a number of options, but when a decision is made it will be in the public domain and anybody who needs consulting will be.”