Balfour Beatty has been selected as the main 'tier 1' contractor to build two new hospitals in the Highlands.

New NHS Highland facilities will be built for Badenoch and Strathspey (in Aviemore) and for Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross (in Broadford).

Selected as 'Tier 1' supplier for hub North Scotland, Balfour Beatty will work alongside design consultants Oberlanders and Rural Design as well as engineering design firms Waterman Group and Rybka.

Both hospitals are being built as part of a £30 million design, build, finance and maintain contract for NHS Highland, which will see both projects 'bundled' to deliver best value.


In addition, the two facilities form part of wider redesigns across Badenoch and Strathspey and in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross. In Badenoch and Strathspey, the redesign will see the eventual closures of Ian Charles Community Hospital in Grantown-on-Spey and St Vincent's Hospital in Kingussie.

Further arrangements on Skye will see a new, modern integrated health and social care 'hub' created in Broadford as well as a 'spoke' facility in Portree, with all inpatient services provided from the 'hub'.

NHS Highland's head of estates Eric Green said: "NHS Highland is delighted to be working with Balfour Beatty on these exciting projects. We look forward to delivering high-quality facilities that the communities of Badenoch and Strathspey and Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross can be proud of.

"Balfour Beatty have shown a desire to engage communities proactively to ensure that we can maximise the local benefits of these substantial investments during construction and through to operations."

(LM)