The reshaping of health and social care services across Caithness by NHS Highland has taken another major step forward with the appointment of a design team.
Hub North Scotland, the community infrastructure specialists working with NHS Highland on the project, have appointed three leading consultants to design two new community hub and care villages in Wick and Thurso.
Architects NORR will join the team along with engineering and structural experts Rybka and Waterman to work alongside NHS Highland and Hub North staff. The design team has already begun work with an initial workshop following the decision to choose sites at Noss in Wick and Dunbar Hospital in Thurso for the new community hubs.
Graham McCorkindale, Hub North Scotland's project director said the key appointments were a significant step in moving the development forward. He added: “All three appointees have significant expertise and will make a major contribution in helping deliver a service redesign which will benefit the entire community of Caithness.”
Louise Bussell, Director of Nursing and Senior Responsible Officer for the Caithness redesign, said: “We are delighted to welcome NORR, Rybka and Waterman to the team, to design these much-needed facilities which are key enablers to the delivery of more sustainable services in Caithness. These two hubs represent an investment of over £55 million, and are part of a wider programme of transformational change to adult health and social care services in the area.”
The community hub and care village sites will include extra care housing, which will be a first for Caithness, as well as bringing together services and teams currently located in multiple sites across Wick and Thurso. The hubs will include community and residential care beds, a GP practice, outpatient consulting, therapy space and a base for community integrated teams.
The design team will also look at sustainable energy sources as part of the drive to meet Net Zero Carbon targets. NORR and Rybka are already working on the NHS Orkney Decarbonisation Programme and will use that experience for their Caithness work.
Hub North Scotland also successfully delivered the award-winning Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital in Aviemore and the Broadford Hospital on Skye projects for NHS Highland, and will take best practice and lessons learned from those developments for Caithness.
The service redesign also includes the redevelopment of Caithness General Hospital in Wick, which is being delivered by Balfour Beatty through the Health Facilities Scotland framework.
Read more about Caithness health and social care redesign.