Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has opened a £10m research centre, which she says will lead to earlier diagnosis and better treatment for cancer and heart disease for Scottish patients.

Sturgeon also pledged £1.6m of Scottish Government funding for a PET-CT scanner at the centre, which will bolster medical research studies by tracing any changes in cancer cell activity.

Based in Dundee, the research centre will be a hub for clinical studies and research projects, as well as delivering cutting-edge procedures and treatments to be developed and assessed for use in the NHS. It will also provide critical diagnostic examinations for cancer patients, and help ensure urgent referral to treatment within 62 days.

Sturgeon said: "Research remains at the heart of the modern NHS and ensures great strides are made in patient safety and providing the best possible care.

-- Advertisement --

"Screening for breast cancer, developing pioneering child immunisation programmes and opening blocked heart arteries by balloon surgery are examples of important developments which are now routine.

"These developments have radically changed the way healthcare is provided in Scotland and improved the health of our population.

"That is why I am delighted to open this exciting new research centre and pledge funding for a PET-CT scanner. Both will be vital to building on Scotland's golden reputation for world-class healthcare solutions."

Professor Alastair Thompson, the director of the clinical research centre and a leading researcher in breast cancer, said: "The Scottish Government announcement of funding for the PET-CT scanner is wonderful news. The scanner complements the other features which we have built in to the clinical research centre and underlines the unique nature of this facility.

"With the magnificent help of the public across Tayside and north-east Fife we have been able to establish a great platform for medical research into some of the most serious diseases.

"What this centre does is give us a purpose built facility capable of taking that research on to a new level. It will make us more efficient in our research, gives us greater capability to run more complex trials, and will give real benefit to patients in this area.

"What we have here is an outstanding facility of its type in the UK and right up there with the best in the world."

(GK/JM)