Clitheroe Community Hospital on track for April opening

Published: 16-Jan-2014

Two-storey development boasts en-suite bedrooms and dementia-friendly wards

Work on the new Clitheroe Community Hospital is progressing well, with the facility due to open in April.

The £7.4m scheme will create a 4,050sq m, two-storey building on land off Chatburn Road.

The new hospital will have 32 inpatient beds, 16 of which will be individual rooms with en-suite bathrooms.

There will be a large patient lounge, plus a ‘love snug’ area where patients can spend time with their relatives away from the ward.

Designed by IBI Nightingale, the new hospital is the first in East Lancashire not to have nursing stations. Instead, the nurses will have mobile computers on wheels. Health experts believe the move will encourage nurses to have more interaction with patients and be able to deliver higher standards of care.

In addition, there will be three physiotherapy teams, one occupational therapy team, special care dentistry treatment, diagnostic facilities, a radiology department and an expanded outpatient department with eight consulting rooms.

Clitheroe Community Hospital is an NHS Property Services project and once complete will be handed over to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Andy Pratt, project director at NHS Property Services, said: “This new development is providing a long-awaited new 32-bed inpatient facility with all the supporting infrastructure, which will provide the residents of the Ribble Valley and surrounding areas a state-of-the-art facility fit for the 21st Century.”

Craig Henderson, project manager at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “The construction team are on programme with the building sealed and most of the internal infrastructure moving on well.

“We will see the flooring, doors, sinks and the beginning of the internal fixtures and fittings being introduced in the next few weeks.”

The new hospital wards have been carefully designed to ensure they create a comfortable and relaxing setting for people suffering with dementia-related illnesses.

John Dean, associate medical director at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “There is increasing evidence that the physical environment within which we deliver care has a major impact on the outcomes of care for dementia patients, the experience of care for them and their carers, and the experience and reward for staff.

“The trust has developed a programme of simple changes to ward and communal areas across all trust sites and will also be introducing these dementia friendly principles within the new Clitheroe Community Hospital.

“These enhancements will help people with dementia, improve the environment for staff and generally provide a more comfortable, calm and relaxing setting for all patients.”

The development was commissioned by the local NHS LIFT Company, East Lancashire Building Partnership, and is being built by Eric Wright Construction.

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