10.07.17
Birmingham trust announces plans for new £65m specialist facility
Plans for a large new specialist facility costing £65m have been revealed by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS FT.
The new facility will house 138 specialist beds offering both NHS and private care on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham campus.
It is expected that the facility will be finished by 2020, and is hoped to ease capacity for hospitals in the area by providing 72 new beds for NHS patients, as well as a new radiotherapy unit and access to state-of-the-art operating facilities.
The site will cover 14,000 square metres and also provide 66 private beds, which will be run by HCA Healthcare UK.
Doctors at the facility will also have the latest technology to provide complex surgical and medical procedures in cancer, cardiology, neurology, hepatobiliary, urology, orthopaedics and stem cell transplantation.
“The new specialist hospital will provide 72 extra beds for NHS patients that the NHS is not currently able to fund,” said Dr Dave Rosser, executive medical director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS FT.
“The trust has no physical capacity in our existing hospitals to provide extra beds so this additional provision – on site – will be a huge support in managing our ever-increasing patient numbers.”
Dr Rosser added that the trust was aware that there were some patients who wanted to have their complex procedure or condition treated in the private sector, and that at present people wanting this type of care had to travel to specialist facilities outside of the region.
“We therefore welcome HCA Healthcare UK’s support in providing that choice for patients here in Birmingham as well as freeing up the NHS capacity currently used to treat these patients who would choose a private facility if there was one available,” he said.
“As a result of this group of patients being treated privately, more patients will be able to receive their complex treatment on the NHS within the trust. The development will also provide UHB with an additional revenue stream to reinvest into NHS patient care.”
And Mike Neeb, CEO of HCA Healthcare UK, said: “We are extremely proud to be working with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS FT, with its internationally-renowned reputation as a centre of medical excellence and innovation.
“This new hospital will build on this reputation offering a state-of-the-art new facility and expanding access to complex high-quality private healthcare in the West Midlands.”
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