The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust is considering how to further expand services at the rebuilt £30m Berwick Infirmary.
Progress on the rebuild has reached a milestone with the initial demolition phase and archaeological investigations complete. Now, as the construction phase begins and a new contractor takes charge, hospital bosses have spoken of increasing the range of services available there.
The NHS Trust has previously announced it is bringing endoscopy services to the new facilities, but executive director for nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals Marion Dixon has spoken of plans to "offer as many services as possible" from Berwick - so as to limit the number of patients forced to travel long distances for appointments and procedures.
The building work is ongoing while the existing hospital continues to offer inpatient services including for minor injuries and oncology, along with outpatient appointments. When the construction phase is complete, the existing premises will then be demolished.
Ms Dixon said: "Delivering appropriate patient care as close to home as possible is a top priority for us in Berwick and we are committed to ensuring that we provide as many services as we can from our fantastic new hospital. We know that our staff and local communities are proud of their hospital.
“We are currently in discussions about bringing new services to the hospital and further enhancing existing services including gynaecology, colposcopy, urology, audiology and ophthalmology. We are also delighted to be bringing endoscopy services back to Berwick and in preparation for this are currently training more nurse endoscopists."
She said that it was important to reduce the miles patients have to travel, and said the Covid-19 era had emphasised that technology and telemedicine could play a role, too. She added: "For example, a patient could see a nurse at Berwick and discuss their treatment with a consultant at another site virtually.
"We also continue to work closely with our GPs in the local area and other healthcare colleagues to understand what additional services we should consider or what enhancements to services we should make. I want to assure people that we are working very hard to ensure we deliver as much patient care from Berwick as we can."
Ms Dixon, who herself lives in Berwick, said it was important to improve the staff experience at the infirmary and added: "It means a huge amount to me too as a resident of Berwick to see this work progressing. Again, I thank our wonderful staff for all of their hard work and efforts."
Cramlington -based contractor Merit Health are now taking on the building work, and will use a combination of pre-fabricated and built-on-site elements. The design of the hospital is currently being finalised, in line with current planning consent.
Merit Health recently completed another project for the Trust, building its sterile services centre at Cramlington. Chief executive Tony Wells, said: “Merit’s unique way of delivering next-generation, patient-centric buildings is gaining significant traction. Berwick Hospital will be built much quicker than traditional construction using a hybrid approach."
The project is now expected to take around 18 months. The archaeology and demolition phase has involved the discovery of historical artefacts including a medieval latrine.
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