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03
Dec 2024
Planning verdict issued on new theatre building at Harrogate hospital
The council has approved plans to replace a now-demolished building riddled with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) at Harrogate District Hospital.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust submitted plans to North Yorkshire Council to replace the former therapy services building in June.
It came after it was last year revealed the concrete panels on the building’s roof contained RAAC – a lightweight material that can collapse.
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.
However, the council has now permitted the trust to build a new day surgery and imaging department in its place.
Planning documents show the new three-storey building will include several radiology rooms with CT, ultrasound, X-Ray, dexa, fluoroscopy and MRI scanning equipment.
There will be accommodation for “short and simple procedures”, plans say, including a day case suite with two operating theatres and a four-bed recovery area. The first floor will also have two six-bed bays and two single en-suite rooms.
Staff and clinical spaces are also proposed for the building, such as changing and rest rooms, as well as support areas.
Plant rooms will be located on the third floor.
The design and access statement claims the building will be developed in keeping with the rest of the hospital site and will not impact surrounding areas.
The new building will be accessed by both the existing hospital entrance and internal hospital corridor.
The trust 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.
Harrogate and District Hospital. Circled in orange is the former therapy services building, which has now been demolished.
The Stray Ferret approached the hospital trust about the plans. Mr Graham said yesterday:
The creation of a new day case surgery and imaging building at Harrogate District Hospital is an important development for our trust, which will help us to further improve on the excellent healthcare service we can provide for the people within our community.
Computer-generated image of the new day surgery at Harrogate hospital.
Therapy services to relocate
Plans say the therapy services will relocate to locations both “on and off the hospital site”. They add:
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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