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£112m hospital bonanza
Emilene White19/ 9/2007
TAMESIDE Hospital is to be completely modernised with a £112m cash injection.
The huge cash investment will see dilapidated buildings razed to build state-of-the-art new acute and mental health facilities.
Work begins later this month as part of the Health Investment in Tameside project.
Included is an £88m cash injection under a private finance initiative in partnership with Consort Healthcare.
The news will provide a welcome boost to staff and patients at the hospital, which has weathered a barrage of complaints over standards of care.
Kevin Corscadden, chairman of the acute trust, said: "This wonderful development could not have happened without the strong support the hospital received from all four of our local MPs.
"In addition, Tameside and Glossop Primary Care Trust showed exceptional support and vision when they were one of the first in the country to acknowledge that modern, dignity-enhancing facilities would cost more than old-fashioned 19th century Nightingale wards and agreed to a quality premium payment.
"I'm delighted that the patience of Tameside and Glossop residents has today been rewarded."
At the moment new pathology laboratories and a new education and training centre along with better car parking, are being built as part of an £18m enabling scheme.
Once finished, the centre of the hospital will be cleared to make way for the new PFI development.
This will consist of two new buildings: an acute hospital and a centre for older people with mental health problems.
The acute hospital will provide:
- new surgical wards to replace the Nightingale wards in the Stamford Building
- new dedicated children's unit
- centralised outpatient department to replace those currently scattered throughout the site
- integrated x-ray department which will replace those in the Stamford and Darnton buildings
- expanded day case and endoscopy unit, increasing the number of dedicated day case theatres from one to three
- new inpatient theatres
- a state-of-the-art pharmacy integrated into the main outpatients and day case area
- link corridor from the Ladysmith unit to the main hospital building so patients no longer have to be transferred by ambulance.
More single bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and a maximum of four beds in multiple-bedded rooms will offer better privacy and dignity to patients, hospital bosses say.
The new mental health unit for Pennine Care NHS Trust will provide 48 single bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms for patients to replace out-of-date accommodation, some of which was built during the Victorian era, which is currently spread across two sites.
A new 30-place day unit replaces the one at Hyde Hospital.
The building project will also create a new hospital entrance and access road.
Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West, said: "This is excellent news for the people of Tameside and Glossop and is the result of the combined efforts of many people.
"But I would particularly like to thank local people and MPs who have given this project their support, both here and in Westminster."
Most recent 2 of 3 user comments
What really happens here is Balfour Beatty have taken over Tameside Hospital and then they lease it back to the government for a massive amount of money which secures them a tidy profit. This is nothing more than Labour stealthily privatising the NHS!
It looks like Balfour Beatty are to make a massive swoop for Tameside as they have been eying up the Longdendale Bypass too.
21/09/2007 at 01:19
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The net result is fewer services in new buildings - but buildings often not as substantial as those they replace
29/09/2007 at 00:35