Inverness Campus earmarked for primary care base and natural products hub

By jonny muir

A major health complex was yesterday revealed as the latest development to potentially feature in a proposed business and education centre at Inverness.

The Centre for Health Science wants to create a £10million research and education facility on the Beechwood Farm development, known as the Inverness Campus.

The campus could become the new home of Inverness College and may also include an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a velodrome.

The fourth phase of the Centre for Health Science would be the first outwith its current site adjacent to Raigmore Hospital.

The new centre would include a primary care department, focusing on the impact of the planned shift in care from hospitals to local communities.

A natural products hub would provide resources and research for organisations involved in plant and marine-based natural products in the Highlands

Plans for a healthcare practice, incorporating dentistry, medical care, pharmacy, nursing and allied healthcare professionals, to serve both the campus and local community, are also at an early stage.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s head of operations for the Inner Moray Firth area Ruaraidh MacNeil said: “Phase four of Centre for Health Science will further develop Inverness’s burgeoning life sciences cluster, which we see being an exciting area of growth for the region over the next decade and beyond.”

More than 250 staff work at the Centre for Health Science, with an average salary of £45,000.

At any one time, 600 students are involved in courses based at the building.

Professor Alasdair Munro, a retired consultant general surgeon at Raigmore Hospital and chairman of the centre’s board, said: “We are hugely excited about the Inverness Campus and the development of the Centre for Health Science, which will focus on very challenging developments in the provision of healthcare.”

He added: “The Highlands needs an academic campus to continue growing and to attract large employers to the region.

“By creating a facility for education, the Centre for Health Science is making a real impact on the area.”