Design of new radiopharmaceutical building at Royal Victoria Hospital.
A new radiopharmaceutical building crucial to the treatment of cancer has been approved for Royal Victoria Hospital.
Elected representatives at the monthly Belfast City Council Planning Committee meeting have unanimously approved an application for a two storey regional radiopharmaceutical facility at Royal Victoria Hospital, 274 Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12.
The applicant was the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
The application site is located to the south east of the Royal Victoria Hospital complex and is currently used as a car park.
The existing radiopharmaceutical facility is located within the Ferguson building to the south west of the site and, according to the council planning report on the plan “is no longer fit for purpose given the updates in guidelines for the production of radiopharmaceuticals.”
Council officers recommended the plan for approval, and there were no objections from consultees or third parties.
Royal Victoria Hospital site plan with new location for construction of the radiopharmaceutical building in red dashed line.
The council planning report states:
“The proposal is to provide improved community infrastructure and is an appropriate and accessible location in accordance with policy. It will not have an impact on residential amenity.
“The proposed site is within a flood plain, (but) has been deemed an exception given it is replacing a demolished building and is of regional economic importance. A flood risk assessment has been submitted and DFI Rivers had no objections.
“The proposed building is considered to integrate within the existing buildings on site and will not impact the setting of the listed Mullhouse Building. The proposed building is of a high quality design and the materials are considered acceptable.”
It adds: “In terms of the exceptional benefit to the regional economy, the proposal is a regionally important medical facility. The radiopharmaceuticals produced within the facility are used in nuclear medicine diagnostic investigations and in the treatment of cancer patients.
“The facility produces and dispenses approximately 15,000 radiopharmaceutical doses per year to the Belfast, Southern, Southeastern and Northern Health and Social Care Trust. The current facility within Ferguson House is no longer fit for purpose due to limitations in the building’s size and internal structure layout.
“The manner in which the facility supplies the needs of three trusts within Northern Ireland demonstrates the regional importance of the facility.”