Work progresses on major care home upgrades

Work is progressing to update facilities at three of The Highland Council’s care homes for older people at an estimated total cost of £4,120,000.

At Ach an Eas in Inverness, a 10-week programme of work will start in early February to upgrade the kitchen, dining room and and residents’ bathing facilities.  Improvements to pedestrian access will also be carried out.  The cost of this first phase of work will be £210,000 and will be carried out by contractors DA Nicolson.

A further, more extensive programme to improve en-suite bathrooms, upgrade electrical and heating systems and install a sprinkler system, is scheduled to start in the autumn once similar work at Grant House in Grantown on Spey has been completed.

At Grant House, work to upgrade residents’ bathing, toilet and hairdressing facilities has now been completed. The second phase of work, which will include a biomass boiler as part of the Council’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint,  is scheduled to start in the spring and will be carried out by contractors Morrison Construction. The total cost of the upgrade at Grant House will be £985,000.

At Invernevis House in Fort William, work stared at the end of October to improve assisted bathing facilities, install a new entrance door with automatic entry system, and upgrade the kitchen and some of the fire safety arrangements.  It is due to be finished by the end of February. The cost of this element of work is £120,000 and is being carried out by MacGregor Construction.

Further work is also being planned at Invernevis House in order to upgrade electrical and heating systems, install a sprinkler system and also provide some larger rooms with en-suite facilities.