Dundee will receive a £20 million elderly care boost after the Scottish Government pledged to fully fund a community centre in the city.
The centre will be part of a larger £409 million health infrastructure package that will be rolled out nationwide over the next five years.
NHS Tayside will now begin engaging with patients, families, carers, staff and communities to ensure the new centre offers patients the best services possible.
Those who take part in the process will have a say in both the models of care provided and the location of the centre.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “This project will support the provision of state-of-the-art facilities to care for patients across the Dundee area and adds to the recent programme of significantly improving care services in the city.”
She continued: “This government’s vision is to deliver world-leading safe, effective and person-centred healthcare.
“Despite the massive cuts to Scotland’s capital budget from Westminster, the Scottish Government will continue to deliver substantial investment in the infrastructure of the NHS through use of the innovative NPD model and the Hub programme.”
Cash has also been made available to enhance facilities at Carseview Mental Health Centre in the city as part of a programme of improvement in mental health services.
It follows improved services in the area, including the Kingsway Care Centre, which opened in 2013 and provides 62 in-patient beds as well as a day clinic for 15 patients.
Other developments include new facilities for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, currently under construction and due to be completed next March.
NHS Tayside director of community services, Bill Nicoll, said: “This £20m funding will ensure that we can deliver high-quality care in environments which are fit to deliver modern day healthcare for our communities in Dundee.”
This funding is part of a £409 million health investment package to be secured through a £1 billion extension to the Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) programme, which now extends through to 2019-20.
NPD caps private sector returns and any surplus is directed in favour of the public sector.
The model has been developed by the Scottish Futures Trust, which has been set up by the Scottish Government to support infrastructure investment in Scotland.