§ 27. Mr. Doigasked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the new Ninewells Hospital will be completed.
§ Mr. DoigIs my right hon. Friend aware that this will be 20 years after the hospital was first agreed to? While I am aware that this is not the fault of his Administration and that a great deal of the delay took place under the earlier Administration, will he see that no further unnecessary delay takes place, as this hospital is urgently required?
§ Mr. RossI entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I appreciate the frustration and disappointment of the people in the Dundee area about the long saga of this building. But my hon. Friend will appreciate that what is being built there is probably the largest and the most 477 complicated hospital which has been scheduled so far for the whole of Britain. We had hoped that work would start in April, 1964. The site preparations started then and building started in August, 1964. There was a longer gap than we had expected between the planning stage and the architects and contractors getting together and starting work. But I can give an assurance that as far as possible we shall speed up completion of the building.