A NEW unit described as "a major milestone in the project to redevelop Queen Margaret Hospital" opened last week.

Housed on the third level of the hospital, the Carnegie Unit brings together a range of services, primarily from Carnegie and Abbeyview clinics, including speech and language therapy, child and adolescent mental health, the Centre for the Vulnerable Child, podiatry, diabetes, dietetics and psychology.

These services are the latest to relocate from the Carnegie Clinic, with Adult and Child Physiotherapy and Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy moving to a new dedicated therapies suite at Queen Margaret last year.

Housing these specialist services alongside existing departments on-site has allowed medics to work closer together and develop their services more easily for the benefit of patients, according to NHS Fife.

NHS Fife surveyed patients from Carnegie Clinic, Abbeyview Clinic and the local community to hear their views about the relocation of services. Priorities identified by patients including accessibility on the Queen Margaret site have already been acted upon – with an increased number of disabled parking spaces available and the introduction of parent and child, and short stay spaces.

NHS Fife chief executive Paul Hawkins said: “I am delighted to see the new Carnegie Unit open, which will greatly enhance the healthcare services we offer to families in West Fife.

“The Carnegie Unit is a significant milestone in our efforts to redevelop and modernise Queen Margaret Hospital, enabling easier access for families and providing a more comfortable and child-friendly environment for patients.

“Queen Margaret Hospital has undergone something of a transformation over recent years, with considerable investment in improving the facilities we offer to patients; creating the regional endoscopy and day surgery units; overhauling the main reception; and more recently the opening of the specialist dentistry and children’s audiology facilities.

“These improvements ensure that Queen Margaret Hospital will continue to offer state-of-the-art healthcare services for patients from across Fife and beyond.”