The planning permission for the hospital is part of wider redesign of services that will include alterations and/or refurbishment to the Portree Hospital building, as well as the Broadford and Kyle Health Centres.

NHS Highland said the redesign will bring together community health and care teams allowing them to better support the delivery of integrated care within the SLSWR communities.

As well as in-patient accommodation, the facility in Broadford will include an Emergency Department, X-ray and Ultrasound Services, Out-patient Clinics, an Infusion Suite and a midwife-led Community Maternity Unit.

The site for the new hospital is located between the current Dr Mackinnon Memorial Hospital and Broadford Health Centre. An archaeological and ecological assessment of the site has been completed to identify any potential problems at an early stage. Initial results have been positive with no findings likely to affect construction.

NHS Highland’s project director for the SLSWR redesign, Gill McVicar, said: “This is another exciting step forward. The submission of the planning application signals that we are at an advanced stage in the design of the new facility and we hope to have a positive conclusion to the application process.”

This proposed new hospital forms part of a wider redesign across SLSWR which will see the new, modern integrated health and social care ‘hub’ in Broadford and re-design of the Portree Hospital building.

The new community hospital in Broadford is being designed and built by hub North Scotland Ltd. Balfour Beatty is the main contractor working alongside architectural firms Oberlanders based in Edinburgh and Portree-based Rural Design – and engineering firms Waterman Group and Rybka.

The Full Business Case – which is combined with a redesign of services and a newbuild hospital in Badenoch and Strathspey - is scheduled to be presented to the Scottish Government in early 2019. Construction of both new hospitals, estimated to cost £30m in total, will commence once this is approved.