Green light for
landmark Dental Centre

Green light for landmark Dental Centre

A landmark new £4.7million Dental Teach and Treat Centre is set to go ahead in Stornoway after the development was granted planning permission.

NHS Western Isles Chief Executive Gordon Jamieson has now also signed off the target price and contract with the main contractors, and building will commence on March 8, with the expected date of completion in December 2010.

The plans include seven general dental surgeries and five new modern training surgeries. These will be utilised by NHS Education for Scotland in association with Scottish Universities and Colleges and will help to sustain the improved dental facilities on the islands by attracting promising dental students to the facility, year on year.

The new facility will be located within the grounds of the Western Isles Hospital, adjacent to the junction with Macaulay Road. The building has been positioned to enhance the sense of entrance to the campus whilst carefully retaining the existing visibility splay onto Macaulay Road.

Chief Executive Gordon Jamieson commented: “We are delighted that the Teach and Treat Dental Centre has now reached this key stage. Building will commence in March and it is anticipated that the new Centre will be complete before the end of this year. Stornoway Teach and Treat Dental Centre aims to provide NHS Western Isles with a purpose built building that both patients and staff can be proud of. This will provide the islands of Lewis and Harris with modern dental facilities capable of improving the dental health of the local population, through the delivery of first class dental care and treatment.”

Chief Executive of NHS Education for Scotland, Malcolm Wright said: “NHS Education for Scotland is delighted to learn that planning permission has been granted for the new dental ‘teach and treat’ centre on the Western Isles Hospital site in Stornoway.

“The centre will help teach dental students on outreach from Aberdeen University Dental School and it will support new graduates as they undertake their first post qualification year. In addition, links with the University for the Highlands and Islands (UHI) will allow Oral Health Therapists to be trained in the new centre.

“This is a very exciting time for service development and education and training for the dental team in the Western Isles and NHS Education for Scotland is pleased to be able to help deliver this new centre in partnership with key stakeholders.”

The building will be arranged over two storeys. Patients and staff will enter the building on the ground floor where they will be met with a main reception point and associated waiting space. The long and linear plan has a central corridor serving accommodation either side. General practitioner surgeries and patient areas will be located on the ground floor with training facilities and staff areas located on the first floor. Internally the vibrant, airy and welcoming atmosphere will attempt to de-stress and calm anxious patients. Internal spaces will be flooded with natural light through large window openings and strategically positioned roof lights where possible. The interior will provide NHS Western Isles with sufficient space to cope with current demands whilst incorporating scope for flexibility should this demand change in the future.

Associated car parking for the centre will be accommodated throughout the hospital campus with 21 dedicated patient only spaces located immediately adjacent to the centre on the northern edge of the site with controlled access. The Board hopes to create a further 88 car parking spaces on the Western Isles Hospital site and also alter the layout of the existing main car park to provide 32 barrier controlled patient only parking spaces all of which will remain free of charge.

A simple and elegant landscaping strategy has been incorporated into the proposals to help integrate the building on the site. A hard landscaped external plaza on the Eastern edge provides an active external space at the building entrance.  The western edge of the site incorporates tree planting to retain and continue the existing tree line onto Macaulay Road. Further tree planting on the southern edge aids privacy to the dental surgeries and provides solar shading in the summer. Hedge planting on the northern edge has been introduced to aid privacy to the adjacent residences.

It is the intention to reduce the carbon footprint of the building where possible through responsible design including passive measures. All occupied rooms can be naturally ventilated and day lit. Insulation levels will be increased and glazing specification to windows improved to reduce heat loss in winter and heat gain during summer.  The use of solar panels will be utilised as a renewable energy source for providing hot water to serve the building.

The Board has ensured that neighbouring residents have been kept up to date on the proposals from the early stages, with specific meetings being held for residents to discuss proposals. Points raised at meetings were taken into account as plans developed.