The New Hospitals We Need...

I agree, Homestead62, that even before they are built, the hospitals are not big enough, but a lot of this is due to a growing population, and the space required for modern diagnostic equipment and start of the art operating theatres. In large cities, especially London, they cannot acquire more land on the site to expand the footprint. What they do do is build upwards, like the new Royal London.

When driving round France I often notice newly built hospitals off motorway junctions or on ring roads outside large cities. France has 3 times the land mass, so they can build large hospital sites, whereas we are more restricted in terms of space and planning applications. And, let's be honest, people would only moan that they couldn't get there without a car.

The new hospital in Birmingham is massive.

That's good, so new hospitals are being delivered. Was it on the same site as the old one Kate1949?

Wyllow3

A lot of things concern me, far from ideal, but where is the money to come from.

MaizieD has educated us in the past. It can come from the government any time it likes for whatever reason it deems necessary. Quantative easing, furlough payments, a new Heathrow runway, just not new hospitals it seems.

I’m disappointed in Wes Streeting. I thought he was going to hit the ground running and make big changes.

Altrincham General Hospital, fairly newly built (!) just before Covid only ran as a small unit. Now it’s been closed.

escaped No. It was an industrial site before I believe. The hospital covers 84,000 square metres. Unfortunately they have closed the A&E departments of two other hospitals, including our local one which is ten minutes from here (my husband was blue lighted there last year and it was very easy for me to get there) but never mind. Hopefully we won't need it again 🤞

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Altrincham General Hospital, fairly newly built (!) just before Covid only ran as a small unit. Now it’s been closed.

I just checked this out, it says it is open? The only element that has apparently closed is the Minor Injuries Unit, according to NHS Manchester.

Whatever happened to the Nightingale units that were supposedly being set up during Covid?

Our Nightingale Hospital is a Diagnostic Centre - that's CT, MRI, X-ray, Ultrasound etc. Also, an orthopaedic Centre for hip and knees operations, a Centre of Excellence for Eyes, including cataracts and glaucoma procedures. In addition, early this summer around 10 new consulting rooms were opened for cardiac, gynae, gastro, skin consultations.

Astitchintime

Whatever happened to the Nightingale units that were supposedly being set up during Covid?

They weren’t generally new builds, but were adapted use of existing buildings.

So it's OK to build four new prisons but kick hospitals and social care into the long grass?

Astitchintime

Whatever happened to the Nightingale units that were supposedly being set up during Covid?

Most closed because they were set up in other buildings - the London one was in a event centre and was to treat 500 initial patients, rising to up to 4000 and would require 16,000-25,000 staff. It ended up an expensive white elephant treating only 54 patients in 2020.

The few that remained are used by the NHS

escaped

By the way, Whipps is actually Wes Streeting's local hospital, if he uses the NHS.

Whipps was a dump when I was treated there in 1986 - completely disgusting. Goodness knows what it is like now.

I think it was built as a workhouse in the 1890s

Whipps Cross is now really quite good. Modern extensions and new xray dept in outpatients.And the staff were very helpful.
And everywhere was clean.
With the buildings they have they are doing a good job.
With the buildings

Apparently they are going to keep the facade of the workhouse.
Apologies, sent too soon.

With the buildings they have they are doing a good job.

Yes, Whipps had many good points. For example. A & E was much improved in 2012 when it was designated an Olympics hospital. But it's the fabric of the building that is not sustainable. We, the tax payers, are having to shed out for patching up work on the site, whereas a new building will put a stop to that.

DH worked on a multi million pound project in East London to restore and extend a Victorian building. The costs proportionately exceeded those of knocking it down to start again.

Time is of the essence, because, as we all know, building costs will only rise over 10 years.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202501/medium-100553-download.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202501/medium-707571-new-whipps-cross-hospital.jpg

Sorry, O/P, I'll shut up about Whipps on the thread now. (My excuse is we have passionate structural engineers and architectural boffins in the family!)
Just to show posters, Whipps is from this to this.

escaped

I agree, Homestead62, that even before they are built, the hospitals are not big enough, but a lot of this is due to a growing population, and the space required for modern diagnostic equipment and start of the art operating theatres. In large cities, especially London, they cannot acquire more land on the site to expand the footprint. What they do do is build upwards, like the new Royal London.

When driving round France I often notice newly built hospitals off motorway junctions or on ring roads outside large cities. France has 3 times the land mass, so they can build large hospital sites, whereas we are more restricted in terms of space and planning applications. And, let's be honest, people would only moan that they couldn't get there without a car.

Our local university hospital in France is being rebuilt because the huge tower block is no longer fit for purpose. There will be one building for in-patients, another for out-patients and lots of separate clinics for different specialisms like dentistry, psychology etc.
In the meantime the road system is chaos, but the tram line does run right through the hospital campus.
It is interesting to see the way the development is going, with the move away from one big building.

Is that CHU Caen Mamie? It does look like a monster from the N814.

Have seen the disaster that is the new hospital that was built in Glasgow it may actually be a blessing these hospitals haven’t been built. Several children died after contracting waterborne diseases due to poor construction and design. I’ve told my family never to let me be admitted to it, I been in it once and never want to repeat the experience, my experience in the very old Royal Infirmary was so much better.

Casdon

Indigo8

Sarnia

You can build hospitals but where are the staff coming from to run them?

Spot on Sarnia. Working in a clinical role for the NHS is not an attractive option for most people.

There are thousands of unfilled vacancies. It seems that we cannot staff the existing hospitals adequately.

Are these hospitals not replacements for existing sites?

My mistake, I thought this thread was about new hospitals which included new hospitals as well as replacements buildings for existing old buildings - silly me.

escaped

Is that CHU Caen Mamie? It does look like a monster from the N814.

It is. Not helped by the fact that they are putting an underground heating system in underneath that part of Caen at the same time.

Whatever happened to those emergency Covid hospitals? I wonder if nothing else they could be used as convalescent type places to help empty hospitals of so-called bed blockers - providing the staff can be found to operate them.

When BJ became PM you got shoutec down for criticising him. Now people are criticusibg hin for lying about new hospitals. There must be lits if twi faced people arkund.

Work on renewing Watford General wont start until 2030. By the time its done I'll probably be dead.