The New Hospitals We Need...

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

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.

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 🤞

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

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.

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

The new hospital in Birmingham is massive.

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 hospitals they have built, are not big enough. Not in my area and they closed perfectly good hospitals down. They could have modernised some of them.

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

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?

Yes.
Whipps certainly is. And Harlow.
Whipps employs over 15,000 staff.
It's just not fit for purpose.

mum2three

Even something temporary such as prefab buildings would surely help. At least ambulances would be able to unload patients instead of queuing outside hospitals.
My local surgery put up a small pre fab during the Covid vaccination programme...it's still in use.

Yes this happens already. Just checked. (As well as having been in one attached to a hospital)
There are prefab companies offering specialist pre-fabs for medical purposes.

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?

The hospitals with RAAC have to be prioritised, because they have serious structural flaws. 21 schemes are going ahead, and will actually happen during the life of this parliament, which will be a refreshing change. Some capital funding is available at local level as part of the annual allocation, and can be used to make temporary improvements to the estate. It’s not ideal, but with such a huge backlog maintenance problem, as well as a need for hospital replacements, it’s Hobson’s choice.

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.

Even something temporary such as prefab buildings would surely help. At least ambulances would be able to unload patients instead of queuing outside hospitals.
My local surgery put up a small pre fab during the Covid vaccination programme...it's still in use.

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

we have a huge expansion to our existing old hospital, almost a new hospital here in Brighton.. it is very smart.. I think they have enough staff though it is incredibly busy..

I think Harlow is on the same timescale as Whipps. 2034 to start. I think they are both costing £1.5 billion.
DGC was born in Harlow. The maternity was a godforsaken place then, 15 years ago.
We had a private hospital on our doorstep, and on a smaller scale it had a £25million refurbishment in Olympic year. A couple of big football clubs, Spurs being one who trained locally, donated money and use the facilities.
When money is made available, things can be done fast.

RosiesMaw2

Well,if you live in Kettering or Harlow, you’re not going to get one.
End of.

My local hospital is supposed to be Harlow. Plans for a new hospital started at least ten years ago. It's a good job I can choose to go elsewhere.

Well,if you live in Kettering or Harlow, you’re not going to get one.
End of.

We have a brand new hospital here in Birmingham - The Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. It's chaos. They haven't got enough staff.

Staff training and recruitment is absolutely vital I agree. Shame Brexit meant so many health care workers went home- but we need incentivces to get our own young people interested in health careers instead of becoming hairdressers, nail technicians and warehouse workers.

keepingquiet

I think the way forward is to reform the system. Increase investment in primary care, community health hubs for diagnostics etc, and care in people's own homes.

Hospitals are expensive to run and we need fewer, but better, of them.

A&E depts need to be saved for exactly that: Accident and emergencies, and not for people who can't get GP appointments.

I agree totally, particularly with community hubs, open extended hours and 7 days a week, staffing may be an issue though.

Given that there was no earmarked funding identified by the last government, I don’t think there was much choice but to review all the priority schemes. Approval was given in September for 21 schemes to proceed, including some with the reinforced concrete which has to be replaced. Funding has been earmarked for those schemes, and it’s a big step forward that it’s actually happening at last. Of course in an ideal world every hospital that needs replacing would be done quickly, but we have to be realistic, with a huge backlog and no magic wands.