A new £11 million “world class” theatre suite at Tayside Children’s Hospital has gone on show for the first time.
After years of work, a £2 million fundraising campaign and a global pandemic, the new theatre suite – part of the children’s unit at Ninewells Hospital – will welcome its first patients on Monday.
The £11m unit includes two operating theatres, a 10-bed ward and waiting and recovery areas.
Every year around 3,000 children and young people receive surgery at Ninewells Hospital, with half of those receiving treatment in adult environments, due to lack of space in the children’s wards.
The new theatre suite will double the current capacity for children’s surgery.
In future, children being treated in the Tayside Children’s hospital will remain within one area of Ninewells as part of a wider £18m project.
Dr Grant Rodney, consultant children’s anaesthetist for NHS Tayside, said the team are excited to welcome their first patients.
He said: “This is a world class unit that will benefit everyone who comes here for treatment.
“It will also be a great place for our staff to work.
“It will be a welcoming and non-threatening environment for children and their family to come.
“It is very exciting but also a bit nerve-wracking that we are finally getting into this lovely new environment dedicated for children.”
Surgeries to be performed in the theatre suite include dental, orthopaedic, ophthalmology and tonsillectomy.
In 2012 NHS Tayside launched a partnership with children’s charity the Archie Foundation and two years later a £2m fundraising drive for the theatre suite was launched.
This included donations, two Oor Wullie Bucket Trails, and countless sponsored challenges.
In 2019, the Scottish Government agreed £1.8m and a full business case for the unit, alongside £7.7m from NHS Tayside.
Construction began later that year. It had been hoped the unit would open in 2020 but this was pushed back due to coronavirus and building delays.
Paula Cormack, chief executive of Archie, said: “It’s fantastic to see this project finally come to fruition after so many years of hard work and inspirational fundraising from so many people.
“It’s an incredibly proud moment for all of us at Archie and it is great to be able to show our supporters and service users the impact that the £2m raised for this project has had and will have for years to come.”
Timeline
- 2012: Partnership between NHS Tayside and Archie Foundation launched
- January 2014: Children’s theatre suite agreed as the first joint contract between the health board and charity
- September 2016: Agreement approved by Scottish Government
- September 2018: Outline business case approved by Scottish Government
- July 2019: Site preparation work begins at Ninewells Hospital
- September 2019: Main construction begins
- March 2020: UK goes into national lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. Contractors Balfour Beatty devise new building practices to allow construction to continue
- August 2020 – June 2021: Dundee children help choose designs for sky panels and artwork produced by local artist Suzanne Scott
- September 2021: Balfour Beatty staff donate time and resources to upgrade the existing internal courtyard at the children’s ward
- April 2022: Work is complete
- May 202: First patients arrive
