November 4, 2021 12.58 pm This story is over 28 months old

£120m bid to improve care at Grimsby hospital

A partial rebuild of the hospital

Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. | Photo: NLaG

A £120million bid has been submitted to partially rebuild Grimsby hospital.

The project hopes to deliver improved access and care for patients at Diana, Princess of Wales hospital.

Separate emergency and elective/day case hubs would be created as part of the work.

The New Hospital Programme has committed the government to building 40 new hospitals in England by 2030, with a £3.7billion budget available.

Eligible schemes can include brand new developments, new clinical buildings or new wings for existing hospitals.

Humber hospitals have revealed its bid for a total of £720million of improvements across four sites.

The Grimsby scheme is the lowest priority, behind a complete rebuild of Scunthorpe hospital and upgrades to Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

The redevelopment will complement plans to regenerate the town centre, according to a report into bid.

The government says it expects to announce which bids have made it through an initial selection phase before the end of the year.

Ivan McConnell, director of Humber Acute Services, told Local Democracy Reporters: “Our proposed investment programme will enable us to provide a hospital estate that is smart, flexible, able to cope with serious outbreaks of infection and the effects of climate change by being energy efficient and environmentally sustainable.

“Our current infrastructure has not coped well during the Covid-19 pandemic. Infection prevention and control measures have resulted in reduced bed numbers, treating patients in pop-up facilities and other sub-optimal solutions.

“Backlog maintenance across our sites totals £105m and in some instances over 82 per cent of our infrastructure is at risk of imminent failure or requires major repair or replacement

“Our proposals do not implement a like-for-like hospital build. Instead, they will deliver smarter, more flexible buildings, split unscheduled care from elective and day case work, deliver single rooms, isolation rooms and small bays to optimise patient flow.”

Work is currently under-way on a new A&E department at the Scartho Road site.

There will also be a new Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) staffed by specialists, allowing patients to be seen quicker, often without the need to be admitted to a ward.

The main car park is currently closed as it is converted into a multi-storey to compensate for the expansion.