A new £100m+ mental health hospital has been officially opened by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust this week.
The adult mental health inpatient hospital known as North View replaces Park House on the North Manchester General Hospital site. Hospital construction started in August 2022, with the overall development journey beginning three years prior.
Net zero innovation
The hospital has been built with the environment in mind and is believed to be the country’s first mental health facility to operate entirely on electricity. Examples of the technology being used to help the NHS deliver its net zero pledges include solar panels, LED lighting, and air source heat pumps.
The new hospital will also improve patient privacy and dignity, through the provision of 150 single en-suite bedrooms over nine single sex wards. North View also includes:
- Seven adult acute wards
- One rehabilitation ward
- One treatment suite
- One assessment suite
- One psychiatric ICU
The hospital also boasts several activity and garden areas.
Five-year culmination
“The development of North View over the past few years, culminating in yesterday’s opening, has been an inspiring journey,” said GMMH’s CEO, Karen Howell. “We have worked with our patients and service users, their families, staff and local people to ensure we have a brilliant new hospital which will provide a bespoke environment built to accommodate and support people in Manchester experiencing severe mental illness.”
The hospital was built without any patient impact or service disruption, with all of Park House’s patients now transferred over to North View. Park House is set to be demolished in the new year.
Marc Reed, project director for North View at GMMH, said: “This development journey started over five years ago, and during this time we have encountered several challenges that could have deterred its progress.
“However, we were determined to deliver the hospital, without compromising quality, at the earliest possible opportunity, offering our staff and service users a bespoke environment to support recovery.”
Image credit: iStock
