October 8, 2019 11.24 am This story is over 53 months old

£150m bid to ‘modernise’ Scunthorpe Hospital

Officials want to demolish and rebuild half of the site
Scunthorpe General Hospital on Church Lane in Scunthorpe. | Photo: Calvin Robinson for The Lincolnite

Health bosses in northern Lincolnshire are set to bid for £150 million worth of government funding to “modernise” Scunthorpe Hospital, which would include the demolition of half of the site.

Officials at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust want to flatten half of the hospital site and rebuild it with fit for purpose buildings.

Dr Peter Reading, chief executive at the trust, said the investment would be “value for money” for the taxpayer.

He added that some of the buildings on the site are “decades old” and “designed for a different world and different health service”.

Dr Peter Reading, chief executive of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Trust. Picture: Calvin Robinson.

The trust, which also runs Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, currently faces an estate maintenance bill of £72 million.

The cost covers work such as water pipe maintenance, fire safety and upkeep of hospital buildings.

But, Dr Reading said paying for the maintenance would only “patch up old buildings” and would not deliver a modern hospital site.

“Realistically, we don’t think that spending all that money putting old buildings back into a fit state would be a good use of public money,” he said.

“What we are bidding for and lobbying for at the moment is investment to be able to knock down some of the older buildings and put up new, modern buildings in their place, which would be much better value for money for the taxpayer.”

Scunthorpe General Hospital, Church Lane, Scunthorpe. Picture: Calvin Robinson for Lincolnshire Reporter.

The trust will now line up a bid for £150 million worth of funding from the Department of Health and Social Care over the next five to 10 years for the work at Scunthorpe Hospital.

It will also look to invest around £100 million to help modernise its sites in Grimsby and Goole.

The changes in Scunthorpe would include the demolition of the Coronation block, which was closed in October 2018 due to issues affecting the water infrastructure.

Dr Reading said new buildings at the site would provide a better environment for both patients and staff working in the hospital.

Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby. Picture: Calvin Robinson.

“We’ve got buildings at Scunthorpe which are many decades old and designed for a different world and different health service,” he said.

“To try and deliver modern healthcare in those buildings is always going to be a struggle. We think it’s better value for the taxpayer to knock some of them down and aim to put up a modern building in their place.”

Meanwhile, health bosses in central Lincolnshire revealed last month that hospitals in the region face a £236 million maintenace bill.

Officials said the cost was “rising year on year” and was a result of “two decades worth of underinvestment”.

In addition, bosses from the Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership still require £81 million as part of of plans to shakeup health services in the region.

The proposals include changes at hospitals in Lincoln, Grantham and Boston.

Lincolnshire STP earlier this year failed in a bid for capital funding which would have reduced the bill for a shakeup of services.

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