£33m orthopaedic centre project in Fife reaches significant milestone

A topping out ceremony has taken place for Fife's new £33m orthopaedic centre at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

It's to mark an important milestone in the construction of the new elective orthopaedic centre.

The ceremony marked the completion of the highest point of the build.

Construction work started last March, with the facility forming part of the network of National Treatment Centres across Scotland. .

The project will result in the creation of a state-of-the-art facility hosting three operating theatres, a supporting inpatient ward and associated outpatient facilities.

NHS Fife says the new orthopaedic National Treatment Centre is the largest capital project that the health board has undertaken since the opening of the new wing of the Victoria Hospital in 2012.

The centre's completion is still on course for later this year, with the frame of the construction now completed and work continues to clad the exterior to make the build watertight and enable the interior fittings and first-fix electrical works to commence.

Ben Johnston, Head of Capital Planning and Project Director for the orthopaedic centre, said: "We continue to make fantastic progress on the new centre and I’m really pleased to see us reach this important milestone in the project.

"The topping out of the build marks the stage where can begin to really ramp up our efforts on the interior of the building.

"Although the interior works are in their earliest stages, already we can see areas really taking shape and I remain very confident that, when completed later this year, the facility will provide state-of-the-art environment for our orthopaedic team to deliver an excellent standard of care for patients in Fife."

Carol Potter, the Chief Executive of NHS Fife, said: "It was hugely exciting to visit the site and I’m delighted to have been able to see first-hand the progress that has been made on such an important project.

"The demand for orthopaedic procedures in Fife continues to increase, as it has done for some time and will continue to do so in the years and decades to come.

"We are incredibly fortunate here in Fife to have one of the most innovative and forward-thinking orthopaedic teams in the country and this new centre will help us both in our efforts to meet that demand, and deliver care in a new, modern, state-of-the-art facility for the benefit of patients."