Hospital's £120m revamp unveiled

Plans to redesign the hospital have been unveiled

A £120m redevelopment plan for Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary has been unveiled by the local health board.

The ambitious strategy follows a survey which claimed substantial remedial work was required to ensure the current building remained "fit for purpose".

The multi-million pound project would see single-room provision in the Dumfries hospital increase by 100%.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway hopes to see building work get under way on the site by 2010.

Director of health services Jeff Ace said the whole project would be driven by finding the best way of providing services for patients.

What this gives us the opportunity to do is really generate reliability Jeff Ace NHS Dumfries and Galloway

"It is a complex one but it is very exciting for everyone involved," he said.

"If you look at what we're providing at the moment, in the most part it's an excellent level of care but I think what we don't have is consistency.

"What this gives us the opportunity to do is really generate reliability."

However, Councillor Roger Grant said that while he welcomed the improvements he had concerns about the traffic impact in the area.

He said he feared the roads around the site could be brought to a "grinding halt".

"We really need to get our heads together and sort this out," he said.

"I have been calling for a southern link-road for Dumfries for a long time and this is the single factor that puts it right to the top of the list.

"We must prioritise it for the good of the whole region."