Health Minister Andy Burnham today unveiled nearly £50 million wave of new NHS community hospitals and super-surgeries. Six new health centres, two new community hospitals, and eight refurbished community hospitals will open in towns and cities across the country as part of a major drive to provide NHS patients with more minor operations, medical tests and follow-up care outside of large hospitals.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Health Minister Andy Burnham today unveiled nearly £50 million wave of new NHS community hospitals and super-surgeries. Six new health centres, two new community hospitals, and eight refurbished community hospitals will open in towns and cities across the country as part of a major drive to provide NHS patients with more minor operations, medical tests and follow-up care outside of large hospitals.
New community hospitals will be built in Hornsey and Bristol. Outdated hospitals set to be transformed into modern community hospitals are Barking Hospital, Calderdale Royal Hospital, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, Laura Mitchell Health Centre in Halifax, Princess Royal Huddersfield, Felixstowe General Hospital and Royal South Hants Hospital.
New health centres in Todmorden and Brighouse in Yorkshire, Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, Hastings, Rotherham, and Teddington will house dozens of GPs, offer walk-in centres for patients with minor injuries and illnesses, and provide other additional services, such as maternity and diagnostic services.
The state-of-the-art facilities will offer a wide range of services, from surgery to stop-smoking services, to match the needs of local patients.
Health Minister Andy Burnham said:
"We have made an excellent start to the community hospitals programme, with schemes worth close to £100 million now having received the go-ahead. There will be even more community hospitals and health centres getting the green-light in the coming months as we deliver on our £750 million, five-year programme that will change the face of the NHS.
"These developments represent our commitment to the biggest hospital building programme in the history of the NHS. What this means for patients today is that, in addition to being treated in bright, modern facilities, those in need of NHS treatment will be seen quicker - in 18 weeks or less by the end of 2008.
"We are not just building like-for-like replacements of existing buildings, we are re-thinking the way the NHS provides care so that patients receive better, more convenient services."
In July 2006, the Department invited Primary Care Trusts ( PCTs ) to bid for £750 million in funding to build a new generation of community hospitals, health centres and polyclinics. The first four successful bids, worth £45 million in total, were announced last December.
Over 625 new one-stop primary care centres have been created since 2001, offering GPs and one or more extended primary care service, such as dentistry, physiotherapy, health visitors, pharmacy, optometry, or social work. This will rise to 750 by the end of 2008. Since 2001, around 3,000 GP surgeries - almost one third of all surgeries - have been substantially refurbished or replaced.
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The ten NHS bids receiving funding are:
- Hornsey Central Community Hospital - £1.6 million for a new community hospital. Services will include a dementia resource centre, pharmacy, services for patients with chronic diseases and medical tests.
- South Bristol - £3.9 million for a new community hospital providing inpatient beds, medical tests, minor surgery, urgent care and outpatient clinics.
- Barking Hospital - £5 million refurbishment of existing buildings to provide accommodation for a 24/7 unscheduled care service combined with the GP out-of-hours service, ultrasound, x ray and a pharmacy. There will also be new sexual and mental health services, as well as a birthing unit.
- Teddington Health and Social Care Centre - a new £4 million centre providing children's psychology and speech therapy. Adults and older people will benefit from a integrated health and social care team, specialist dentistry and a smoking cessation service.
- Calderdale and Kirklees Community services - a major £13 million redevelopment of five local hospitals ( Calderdale Royal Hospital, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, Laura Mitchell Health Centre Halifax, and Princess Royal Huddersfield ) and two new health centres ( Todmorden Health Centre and Brighouse Health centre ). The investment for the Calderdale Royal Hospital and the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary will be used to create mini-community hospitals within existing hospitals.
- Ashfield Community Hospital - a £1 million new health centre within the Ashfield Village on the site of the Ashfield community hospital. The centre, complete with five GPs will offer minor surgery, maternity services and support intermediate care beds at Ashfield Community Hospital.
- Felixstowe General Hospital - a £1.75 million transformation of the Felixstowe General Hospital into a modern community hospital. The new hospital will offer minor surgery, radiography, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, ultrasound, mental health services, and outreach clinics.
- Hastings Station Plaza Primary Health Care Centre - a £12 million new health care centre with 10 GPs and a pharmacy. The new facility will include 10 GP consulting rooms, there consulting rooms for outpatient outreach services, and other alternatives to acute hospital service referrals.
- Royal South Hants Hospital - a £6 million transformation of the Royal South Hants Hospital into a community hospital. The redevelopment includes a new primary care centre offering a walk-in centre, GP practice, dental practice, minor injuries service, a new treatment centre, and a new adult mental health unit. There will also be two general rehabilitation wards.
- Rotherham Primary Care Centre - a £1 million new primary care centre, complete with a new 24/7 walk-in service for minor injuries and minor illnesses, a new diagnostic service, and a new base for out-of-hours and unscheduled care services
2. The department is making a total of £750 million capital available over the next five years for the development of a new generation of community hospitals and services.
3. Capital funding will be available to PCTs for a broad spectrum of community schemes. PCTs are being encouraged to work with a range of partners, including NHS partners, local authorities, or independent sector providers.
4. Decisions on whether to allocate capital funding are based solely on the PCT's investment proposal as well as fit with SHA strategic plans and have been judged on merit.
5. For enquiries please contact 020 7210 5221.
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