Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has marked the start of construction of Scotland's new national blood centre, based at Heriot Watt Research Park near Edinburgh.

The National Centre of Excellence is to become the main hub for processing, testing, supply, research and development of blood and human donor tissues and cells.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) facility has benefitted from a grant of £43m from the Scottish government, through the Non-Profit Distributing model, and is part of a £4.5bn investment in infrastructure set out in the 2015-16 draft budget.

Ms Sturgeon said: "Our support for this exciting new facility is part of our £4.5 billion investment in Scotland’s infrastructure, including in transport, housing, colleges, health facilities and schools.

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"Currently projects worth around £750m are in construction across Scotland. This government’s continued commitment to infrastructure investment is delivering quality services, creating jobs and helping to grow the economy."

The purpose-built facility has been designed by SNBTS and developers Interserve Kajima and will bring together and modernise several core activities and services.

The National Centre is expected to be finished in 2017 and more than 400 staff members are expected to move to the site.

Ian Crichton, Chief Executive Officer, National Services Scotland said: "The construction of this National Centre is one of the biggest projects currently underway within National Services Scotland. The work of SNBTS is instrumental to healthcare provision in Scotland, and without it our health service could not function. This new facility will propel the organisation into the future by providing a flexible and adaptive space to deliver an even better service to patients for the foreseeable future."

Mary Morgan director of SNBTS said: "Today marks a major milestone, not just for the National Centre Project Team, but for all of SNBTS. The development of this new facility has been years in the planning and it is very exciting to be on the threshold of the construction phase.

"Consolidating many of our services will mean we can continue to meet the growing blood transfusion needs of patients across the country while providing the highest quality working environment for our staff and on-going contribution to Scotland’s leading life-science research and development industry."

(IT/CD)