Pragmatic solutions unblock long standing
problems
EC Harris was engaged by the North
Cumbria NHS Trust to undertake a high level assessment of the cost
and feasibility of options for the re-provision of acute services
in West Cumbria. The issue of potentially closing or redeveloping
acute hospital provision had been a cause of great community
frustration and political attention for many years.
Our work over an intensive two week period provided information
on the potential affordability of a new build hospital in West
Cumbria, to assist the Trust Board in its consideration of the
potential options.
Our approach
We were specifically commissioned to prepare an outline schedule
of accommodation and associated floor areas for a 220-bedded
hospital (with scope to expand to 250 beds) with the clinical
service content as described in NHS Cumbria’s ‘Closer to Home’
strategy and including all necessary supporting accommodation plus
a budget capital cost estimate.
Our work highlighted that a new hospital of 220 beds, designed
and built to modern UK healthcare standards, would require in the
region of 38,000m² of space. Current benchmarks suggest a cost for
acute hospitals in the region of £4,000 per m². Therefore the
estimated cost of a new West Cumberland Hospital would be £151.9
million. The ‘affordability envelope’ for the project in terms of
capital costs is £100 million and therefore the estimated cost was
£51.9 million more than the available capital funds. A new build
hospital of £100 million would have required a significant
reduction in service provision, compared with the Trust’s stated
strategic intent.
Adding value
We therefore recommended that the Trust considered taking
advantage of the high potential for the re-development of the
existing West Cumberland Hospital site in Whitehaven; involving a
combination of new build and upgrading of existing facilities.
The available capital funding of £100 million enables the
re-development of approximately 30,000 m² of space; which is
broadly equivalent to the existing clinical accommodation. Priority
will be given to the core, high technology areas of the hospital,
including theatres, ITU, A&E and diagnostics. A phased
re-development of the site will enable the Trust to review its
estates priorities in line with the implementation of the ‘Closer
to Home’ service strategy.
Our work and the Trusts acceptance of our recommendations will
enable the delivery of the long awaited provision of modern, fit
for purpose healthcare facilities in West Cumbria at two thirds of
the cost of a new build alternative.
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'North Cumbria NHS Trust' article [108 kb]