New £400m Bristol super-hospital to get green light
Plans to build a new £400-million super-hospital in Bristol are expected to be given approval on Thursday.
The current Southmead Hospital will be ripped down and replaced with an 800-bed hospital to serve the region if plans go ahead.
Most of the patients – three out of four – would be looked after in single rooms with en-suite facilities.
There would also be 24 operating theatres, 12 outpatient clinics and more than 40 rooms equipped with state-of- the-art technology.
Health bosses hope the new hospital will be ready for use in 2014.
The plans have been dogged with controversy because Frenchay Hospital will be severely downgraded to a community hospital with no accident and emergency department if the new hospital goes ahead.
A consortium will fund the building works and maintenance, with the health trust paying instalments over a 30-year period from the end of construction under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), which runs Southmead and Frenchay hospitals, has yet to announce which of the two bidders, Carillion and Skanska, will win the building contract.
Both have submitted their designs but they will not be revealed until the selection process has been completed.
NHS South West is set to approve the business case which outlines the services the new hospital would provide.
If board members agree, then final approval will have to be given by the Government.
The regional capital investment group considered the business case for Southmead at its recent meetings and have made recommendations to the strategic health authority's board to approve it, providing a few details are resolved.
Building the new Southmead Hospital is part of the Bristol Health Service's Plan, which will also see community health centres or hospitals opening in Yate, Eastville, Thornbury, Keynsham and Clevedon.
The NHS South West board have also been advised to approve the second stage business case for the South Bristol Community Hospital at Hengrove Park and the outline business case for the redevelopment of Cossham Hospital.
3 Comments
by Dani, bristol
Tuesday, January 13 2009, 8:36PM
“i disagree with this proposal. frenchay is a good hospital and i can not fault the care provided by many of the different departments there regardless of the age of the hospital. for all those in north bristol frenchay is much closer and only takes around 15 minutes to get there. having to travel to southmead will mean increased number of calls for an ambulance as many will not want the risk of driving all that way. frenchay for many is local and convenient would people be so for the idea if it was southmead being downgraded. i think not. leave frenchay as it is. goes the saying if it aint broke dont fix it”
by Nigel, North Bristol
Tuesday, January 13 2009, 5:05PM
“Frenchay is a dump, it was an old war time hospital not fit for modern use. All its good work will be tranasferred to southmead so what is the problem. Plus there is no public transport to Frenchay, where as Southmead has very good showcase bus routes off gloucester road.
We should all support this new hospitol.”
by gerry, bristol
Tuesday, January 13 2009, 3:36PM
“Its a sad day for frenchay.”