The project will see the creation of a state-of-the-art facility hosting 3 operating theatres, a supporting inpatient ward and associated outpatient facilities. Planning permission was granted for the new Orthopaedic Centre earlier this year and ground has now been broken on the new build.

Following submission of the Full Business Case to the Scottish Government’s Capital Investment Group in late 2020, NHS Fife recently received formal approval for the project which has allowed the construction of the new facility to commence.

The new facility will be built on the grounds of the Victoria Hospital opposite the entrance to the Accident and Emergency Department in what is currently Car Park H. The car parking spaces lost by the development are currently being replaced elsewhere on the hospital site and the recently announced expansion of Car Park L will result in a net increase of around 140 spaces.

The Fife Elective Orthopaedic Centre is the largest capital project that NHS Fife has undertaken since the opening of the new wing of the Victoria Hospital in 2012, with the project expected to take around 18 months to complete.

Health secretary Jeane Freeman, said: “I’m pleased to see work commencing on this £33m facility to modernise and expand elective orthopaedic services in NHS Fife.

“The Fife Elective Orthopaedic Centre will provide safe, modern and improved patient services for the people of Fife and it is a key part of the Scottish Government’s elective care programme to provide additional capacity in our NHS.

“Elective care centres like this will be particularly important as we remobilise NHS services in the wake of the pandemic. I’m grateful to all those involved for their work so far, and I look forward to seeing this project progress.”

The new centre will ensure that NHS Fife’s orthopaedic services are able meet the increasing demand for orthopaedic interventions, like hip or knee replacements, with such interventions now amongst the most common surgical procedures undertaken by the NHS in Scotland.

Over recent years, Fife has become a centre of great innovation in orthopaedic surgery, pioneering hip and knee replacement as day cases and becoming the first Board in Scotland to do so.

Rt Hon Tricia Marwick, NHS Fife chair, added: “I am delighted to see formal approval granted for the new Fife Elective Orthopaedic Centre, which will be the most significant capital project undertaken in Fife for almost a decade.

“We are fortunate here in Fife to have perhaps the most innovative and person-centred team of orthopaedic clinicians in the country. The development of the new Orthopaedic Centre will help us make the most of the considerable clinical expertise we have available and ensure that we can meet the increasing demand for this vital service, whilst also cementing NHS Fife’s position at the heart of orthopaedic excellence in Scotland.

“The development of this specialist facility has long been a key priority the Board and will ensure that people in Fife have access to highest quality orthopaedic care and treatment available anywhere.”