The first phase of the major new upgrade project proposed for Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, a port city and unitary authority in South West England, has been approved. The hospital will be expanded as part of the plan, and a new Urgent and Emergency Care Center will be built.
The multi-million pound scheme includes extensive internal refurbishment and re-purposing of the existing Emergency Department as paediatric facilities. This is in addition to a four-story new construction element required to provide additional accommodation to meet current and future demand.
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The new Urgent and Emergency Care Centres at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth
The Emergency Department will be co-located with urgent care pathways in the new 15,000m2 building, as well as dedicated interventional radiology theatre capacity (hybrid theatres which bring real-time diagnostic imaging capabilities into the operating theatre). Enabling work is slated to start later this year, and construction in 2023.
The new Urgent and Emergency Care Centre’s expansion plans aim to improve care for those in need of urgent and emergency treatment. They would also shorten wait times for those who need to be seen and treated but are unable to be admitted.
New emergency department facilities, a Same-day Emergency Care facility (SDEC), imaging facilities, interventional radiology, training facilities, staff rest and welfare, emergency surgery theaters, and administrative offices will be included in the new-build component. The ambulance arrival and drop-off area has also been reconfigured.
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust’s proposals
The proposals from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust are part of the Future Hospital Phase 1 project, which is the first phase of a long-term development plan aligned with the transformation of healthcare services at Derriford Hospital. Plymouth City Council planners granted planning consent for the scheme this week under delegated powers.
The University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust’s plans are listed as one of 40 ‘new hospitals’ as part of the Government’s £3.7 billion plans for the largest hospital construction program in a generation. Phase 1 will be developed in sub-phases so that the existing Emergency Department can continue to operate.
External service diversions, retaining works, external landscape, the construction of an ambulance access ramp, and the demolition of the children’s surgery department will all take place first (Plym Theatres). This will be followed by the construction and creation of the proposed four-story new build element, which will be primarily located on the site of the existing Children’s Surgery (Plym Theatres) building, before the refurbishment of the existing internal facilities to provide a children’s emergency department, as well as the completion of the external work.
