6 November 2006
Official opening of the Aberdeen Dental Institute
Lewis Macdonald, Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care will officially open the £4m Aberdeen Dental Institute on Monday 6 November 2006 between 11am and 12.30pm.
Offering a wide range of training and educational opportunities for dental professionals, as well as dental services for the public, the Institute is an expression of the Dental Healthfit planning process sponsored by NHS Grampian which began in 2003.
The building features three main elements:
The Outreach Training Centre provides space and state of the art facilities for eight final year undergraduate students, from the University of Dundee Dental School, to carry out supervised dental services.
There are four NHS dental surgeries on the site, offering general dental services in a modern, custom-designed environment.
The Aberdeen Dental Education Centre (ADEC) is an integral part of the Institute and provides educational facilities for dental professionals in Grampian. Facilities include six seminar rooms, a lecture theatre, a clinical skills room and supporting IT resources.
These elements represent a highly innovative development for the future of dental healthcare in the North of Scotland. It is an excellent example of partnership working between NHS Grampian, NHS Education Scotland, the University of Dundee Dental School and the Scottish Executive Health Department.
Jim Royan OBE, Chairman of NHS Grampian, said: "The Aberdeen Dental Institute is the result of a great team effort within the NHS in Scotland and led by NHS Grampian. The Institute allows dental education and services in Grampian to take an important and exciting leap forward and it will play a major part in improving the quality of services for patients and sustaining dentistry in the area in the long term."
Mrs Ann Markham OBE, Chair of NHS Education for Scotland, said: "NHS Education for Scotland is delighted to be working in close partnership with the other key stakeholders in this major development. Our commitment is demonstrated by the recurrent revenue funding which we are providing to support both the Outreach and Education Centres. This is a further example of NES's determination to support 'teach and treat' centres across Scotland."
Dr Elizabeth Connor, Clinical Leader for the Dundee Dental Hospital, said: "Dundee Dental Hospital is delighted to be partners in this new venture in Aberdeen. I am sure that our students will benefit enormously from the clinical experience in this fantastic facility, and from the other opportunities that Grampian can provide for them."
Building the Institute
The Aberdeen Dental Institute is on the site of the former children's hospital. The building was designed by Atkins and constructed by Robertson Construction Eastern Ltd over nine months (January to September 2006).
Dan Stewart, Atkins' lead architect on the project, said: "These facilities will provide a major boost to dental services in the north of Scotland, both to patients and in-training practitioners. This project has required the integration of new and existing buildings, and displays the ambition of all those concerned, including the client, contractor and the whole integrated design team."
George Wood, Robertson Construction Eastern Limited Managing Director, said: "Robertson Group has a strong history of delivering healthcare projects in the north-east of Scotland, and this latest partnership with NHS Grampian has seen the development of a much needed patient and educational resource which brings a benefit to the whole community."
"Our focus was to deliver a new dental centre following guidelines researched and developed by organisations specialising in design standards for dental healthcare facilities. Our commitment to the highest quality design and construction has been fully reflected in this contemporary building, which offers an integrated model of dental health and educational and training resources in a purpose-designed environment."
Note to News Editors
Background information
Healthfit is NHS Grampian's term for the open, consultative approach we use to determine the way forward and the shape of health services in our board area. This innovative approach was first adopted in 2002 at a conference which brought together NHS clinicians and managers, opinion formers from the local communities and more than 100 local people from the health service and its public sector partners.
In June 2003, representatives from the Dental Service in NHS Grampian built on this model to create Dental Healthfit, a vision of the future of Grampian's dental health services. It is a shared, understood and achievable view of what modern dental health services in Grampian will be, whilst recognising pressures such as recruitment, ageing accommodation and limited public access to dental care.
Dental Healthfit's plan for action called for a multi-purpose facility which would provide a range of integrated services to the public, as well as dental education at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The Aberdeen Dental Institute represents the successful completion of the plan's Phase 1. It is a proud achievement for NHS Grampian and a testament to the benefits of working in partnership with the public and in a joint venture with the Scottish Executive, NHS Education for Scotland and the University of Dundee Dental School.
The next stage of this vision of the future for dental healthcare in Grampian consists of creating first class accommodation for Orthodontics, Restorative Dentistry and Community Dentistry in partnership with Dental Laboratories and Radiography.
This impressive concept aims to enhance the existing two-storey building, which currently houses Orthodontics, Genetics and Medical Records. It may also include building one or two floors onto the new Aberdeen Dental Institute facility.
This will provide the accommodation and space necessary to complete the vision for the Aberdeen Dental Institute. This vision will be best realised by continuing to work in partnership with other agencies.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate
Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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