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17
Feb
Construction starts on new Harrogate hospital theatre building
Work to construct a new day case surgery and imaging centre at Harrogate District Hospital has started.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust submitted plans last June to replace a now-demolished building that was formerly used for therapy services but which was riddled with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
North Yorkshire Council approved the application last December.
The move came after it was revealed the concrete panels on the building’s roof contained RAAC – a lightweight material that can collapse – in 2023.
Matt Graham, director of strategy at the hospital trust, previously told the Stray Ferret the trust had secured funding from NHS England to press ahead with the demolition process, which took place between June and October last year.
The first spades hit the ground last Friday (February 14) as the 18-month project to build the new theatre got underway by construction firm Morgan Sindall. The hospital trust said it held a ceremony to mark the occasion.
The scheme is part of a £50 million investment funded by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England.
Jonathan Coulter, chief executive at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, today said:
This is an exciting moment for our trust and the people of our district as we break ground to officially start construction of our new Day Case Surgery and Imaging Centre.
Once completed, the centre will serve our community for years to come. The new facilities will provide a much-improved environment for patients and our staff, and will increase our elective capacity.
We understand that people requiring treatment want to be seen as quickly as possible and being able to undertake more activity will bring down waiting times.
We look forward to working with Morgan Sindall on this exciting project. This investment illustrates our hospital’s bright future and reflects our commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of patients, children and communities and delivering the best possible care.
Ben Hall, Morgan Sindall's area director for Yorkshire, added:
Investment into crucial infrastructure such as this provides invaluable resource to the local community. This groundbreaking event was a great way to mark the important work that is beginning, and we are excited to use our expertise to make healthcare more accessible in the wider Harrogate area.
Computer-generated image of the new day surgery at Harrogate hospital.
The new two-storey building will offer surgical and imaging services.
There will be two new operating theatres, two procedure rooms, a dedicated day case ward and an advanced imaging department.
Harrogate and District NHS Trust said the new facility will feature two MRI scanners, two CT scanners, three X-ray rooms, seven ultrasound scanners, a bone-density scanning service and a fluoroscopy service, which provides real-time imaging of tissue and organs.
The hospital trust previously said it hopes the new building will enable staff to deliver an additional 3,000 procedures each year, which will subsequently reduce waiting times, and work towards achieving the NHS’s goal of increasing capacity to deliver planned treatments following a backlog caused by the pandemic.
Computer-generated image of the new day surgery at Harrogate hospital.
Therapy services to relocate
Therapy services will also move as part of the project.
The trust’s planning application said the services will relocate to locations both “on and off the hospital site”, adding:
As part of the relocation of therapy services, the trust is moving the entire podiatry department to alternative accommodation within the trust’s control. This is a high-volume outpatient service which currently sees around 600 patients per month at Harrogate District Hospital, approximately 7,000 patients per year.
These patients will not be attending Harrogate District Hospital in the future and will be seen in the community, so this will reduce the number of patients at Harrogate District Hospital by around 7,000 per year.
The proposed development will result in an increase of around 4,000 patients coming to Harrogate District Hospital for surgery and other procedures, but overall, this development will lead to a net decrease in the number of patients coming to Harrogate District Hospital of approximately 3,000 per year.
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