30 Jul 2008

Interserve, the services, maintenance and building group, has been chosen by the Peninsula Dental School to lead its exciting new development on the Royal Cornwall Hospital site in Truro.

The prestigious Knowledge Spa building is to be expanded to include a major new clinical teaching centre for the Peninsula Dental School containing 32 dental chairs. The project is due to be completed by December 2009.

The Peninsula Dental School was the first new dental school in the UK for 40 years when it opened in Plymouth in September last year. It is a partnership between the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth and the NHS in Cornwall and Devon and provides education, training and research in dentistry, as well as offering primary dental care to local patients. The new facility will open in Truro in January 2010, when the first cohort of students will transfer to Truro to continue their training.

Professor Liz Kay, Dean of the Peninsula Dental School, said: "These are exciting times for The Peninsula. Our aim is to produce the very best dental professionals, equipped with the skills necessary for the modern world. These new, world-class facilities will ensure we are able to do just that. Interserve's significant experience in the healthcare sector and strong local presence made them the ideal choice."

John Vyse, Executive Director, Interserve, said: "We are proud to have been chosen to help create what will be one of the country's foremost dental education establishments. We look forward to working closely with the school and to using our knowledge of healthcare facilities to deliver this important project on time and on budget."