Queen To Unveil New Facilities

The Queen will officially open a university building and new hospitals today as part of her week of engagements in Scotland.

She and the Duke of Edinburgh will visit the £89 million Technology and Innovation Centre at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

During the visit the couple will join people across the country in pausing at noon for a minute's silence in memory of the victims of last week's beach massacre in Tunisia.

The £89million Technology and Innovation Centre is a hub for world-leading research which aims to transform the way academics, business, industry and the public sector work in partnership.

It is said to be attracting millions of pounds of inward investment to Glasgow, driving global business growth and creating jobs - while helping to develop graduates and postgraduates equipped with knowledge and skills sought after by industry.

Later in the day the couple will visit South Glasgow University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

Upon their official openings today they will be renamed the The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow and The Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow.

The new campus is replacing the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids at Yorkhill, the Southern General Hospital, Western and Victoria infirmaries and Mansionhouse Unit.

The £842 million South Glasgow University Hospital has 1109 individual patient bedrooms and brings together all the specialities that are needed to support acutely ill patients immediately when they arrive at hospital.

It has the biggest critical care unit in the United Kingdom, a theatre complex with more than 30 theatres and other subtle design enhancements to ensure acutely ill patients are treated efficiently and effectively.

The new children's hospital features 244 paediatric beds, with a further 12 neonatal beds in the maternity unit next door. The vast majority of the paediatric beds are in single rooms.

It also features a Medicinema, Science Centre interactive activity walls funded by the Yorkhill Children's Charity, indoor and outdoor play areas and a roof garden.

The Queen will also officially open the teaching and learning centre which will be renamed The Queen Elizabeth Teaching and Learning Centre - Stratified Medicine Scotland.

The four storey £25m teaching and learning centre houses three floors jointly developed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the University of Glasgow devoted to learning and teaching facilities, including a 500-seat auditorium, conference spaces, teaching spaces, a learning resources centre, clinical skills facility and a teaching laboratory.

The top floor will house the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre, bioinformatics company Aridhia and a number of incubator units for industry.