New capital funding of £10 million has been announced today for Worcestershire Hospitals and will deliver a new maternity theatre and paediatric assessment centre for the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, complementing the work already under way to upgrade the Emergency Department and ensure that Worcester benefits from dedicated paediatric emergency facilities. Robin Walker, who has campaigned over many years to get the ED at Worcester expanded and upgraded has welcomed this announcement.
The £10.5 million funding will enable the expansion of endoscopy services at the Alexandra and, at Worcestershire Royal, a series of improvements to maternity and children’s services, including a second dedicated obstetric theatre and maternity triage and assessment unit, remodelling of the Riverbank Children’s ward and a new combined paediatric assessment unit and children’s clinic.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Alexandra and Worcestershire Royal as well as Kidderminster Hospital, has been awarded the funding by the Department of Health and NHS England following the approval of the Trust’s final business case.
Robin recently raised the urgency of an upgrade to the Hospital’s facilities at Health Questions and last week received an update from the Trust confirming that the new Emergency Department and dedicated paediatric ED should be in place this Summer.
Commenting on today’s news Worcester MP Robin Walker said:
“Throughout my time as Worcester’s MP I have campaigned for better facilities and more capacity at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital. I have lobbied Ministers, raised questions in Parliament and hosted a number of visits from successive Health Secretaries to press the case for more funding, more frontline staff and a bigger Emergency Department. I know as a parent of young children how vital it is to have the best possible paediatric facilities and I am particularly pleased to see that today’s announcement will include a new children’s assessment centre, which should compliment the dedicated ED facilities under construction.”
“It is great to see further investment in the Alex alongside these improvements at Worcester as I have always been clear that I want to see all of Worcestershire’s hospitals expanded and the whole county to benefit from the investment being made by this Government. Whilst I would have preferred to see the new ED in place ahead of the recent Winter pressures and it is very clear that the capacity is needed as soon as possible, I am glad to have had confirmation that it is on track for delivery by the Summer. Along with recent announcements of investment in mental health and in social care, to help with discharges, this shows that the Prime Minister’s priority of supporting our NHS is being delivered on in Worcestershire.”
Matthew Hopkins, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said:
“These new services will complement the many other major service improvements we have delivered over the past few years, and others which are currently underway, including robot assisted surgery and a new theatre development at the Alexandra and our community diagnostic hub at Kidderminster. Those developments also include the refurbishment of the Aconbury East block which already includes two floors of specialty inpatient wards, an Acute Medical Unit and Same Day Emergency Medical Care service and will – later this year – also be the location of an expanded and improved Emergency Department.
“All of these services will not only help us to deliver the best services for local people, but they will also provide a greatly improved working environment for our dedicated staff, and make our hospitals even more attractive places in which to work.
Simon Trickett, Chief Executive of NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire, added:
“This is fantastic news for patients in Worcestershire. The review of acute hospital services more than ten years ago took place to look at how we could deliver a wide range of high-quality clinical services as close to people’s homes as possible. Over the years we’ve been able to introduce most of those changes, and this funding now allows the Trust to make the final improvements to local endoscopy, maternity, and paediatric services.”
Health Minister Lord Markham said:
“Thousands of children, pregnant women and cancer patients in Worcestershire will benefit from upgraded facilities at their local hospitals, including expanded maternity and paediatric wards, backed by £10 million in government funding.
“The expansion will see more people tested for cancer and other serious illnesses as we tackle the Covid backlog, boost healthcare services for all patients and improve the working environment for staff. “This is part of our commitment to upgrade hospitals across the country to provide the best possible services for patients and staff.”
- For previous recent announcements on healthcare funding see:
https://www.walker4worcester.com/news/robin-walker-mp-welcomes-improvements-breast-cancer-screening