New Children's Hospital in Dundee

The Children's Hospital in Dundee came a step closer to reality when the Principal, Sir Alan Langlands cut the turf for a new build at Ninewells - the second phase of the Tayside Institute of Child Health.

Phase 2 of TICH heralds the start of the Children's Hospital proper. The new build, costing £4.2 million and scheduled to be completed between March 2003 and January 2004 will house outpatients, a dedicated children's operating theatre, a daycare centre, overnight accommodation for parents and a play centre. In addition, there will be a research unit of clinical and epidemiological studies with a particular focus on the prevention of disease complications in childhood.

Professor Richard Olver, Head of the Tayside Institute of Child Health said: "Phase 2 will see our dream of having a specialised children's hospital in Dundee become a reality. There is evidence that many adult diseases such as heart disease and diabetes have their origins in childhood. The children's hospital is vital to provide better healthcare facilities for children and to link these facilities with research that investigates how diseases begin in childhood.

With its emphasis on integration of research and clinical care and with access to all the facilities of a large general hospital, we will create a new kind of children's hospital at Ninewells which is distinctively different to children's hospitals elsewhere."

Phase 1, with its new laboratories for research into lung disease in newborn babies, cystic fibrosis and sudden infant death syndrome was opened formally in November 1999. Together, phases one and two with a new entrance will be built adjacent to the existing children's wards which will themselves undergo a major upgrade.

The Children's Hospital project, spearheaded by the University and Tayside University Hospital Trust, involves several charitable trusts and foundations. £2.1 million was awarded by the Scottish Executive with the remaining costs met by the University, Tayside University Hospitals Trust and Scottish Enterprise Tayside.

Caption Sir Alan Langlands cuts the first sod at Ninewells. From left: Professor James McGoldrick, Chair of Tayside University Hospitals Trust; Dr Stewart Fair, from the Leng Trust; Brian McKenzie, from the Northwood Trust; and Professor Richard Olver look on.

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