CONSTRUCTION on three health centres will get under way in the new year, according to the Scottish Government.

The £51 million project will bring new facilities to Wishaw, East Kilbride and Kilsyth, all in the Lanarkshire area, serving almost 90,000 people.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the project is expected to be completed by summer 2015.

"The construction project will provide a boost for the local economy, creating new jobs and apprenticeships, and will ultimately result in three new purpose-built, modern health facilities," she said.

The facilities are part a wider £250m project to build health centres and community hospitals across Scotland over the next three years. Ian Ross, chief executive of NHS Lanarkshire, said: "These three health centres build upon the substantial investment we have made in recent years in new local primary care and community services."

The board was the focus of a controversy in recent days, with a report on above-­average mortality rates at Monklands, Hairmyres and Wishaw hospitals.