28 May 2010
Plans to spend more than £9.6 million on improving facilities at Epsom, St Helier and Sutton hospitals have been unveiled by the Trust.
The improvements, which will be funded by the Trust's capital development programme and will take place over the next 12 months, range from major refurbishments of ward and clinic areas to upgrades which are behind the scenes of the hospitals, for instance improving IT facilities.
Major projects include a £400,000 refurbishment of the operating theatres at St Helier Hospital and a £100,000 revamp of the Bradbury outpatients department at Epsom. £700,000 will also be spent on fire safety improvements across the three sites.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of pounds will be spent on new, state-of-the-art equipment for the hospitals, including £136,000 on a diagnostic foetal scanning machine (a scanner used to make sure unborn babies are healthy) and £17,000 on an ultrasound probe (the piece of equipment that is placed against a patient's skin during a scan).
An investment of £150,000 in new equipment for our operating theatres will also be made (including specialist tools for surgery on eyes), while £350,000 will be spent on replacing a variety of endoscopes (which are used to examine the digestive tract) and bronchoscopes (used to examine the bronchial tubes).
The Trust will also be investing £300,000 into new resuscitation monitors for the accident and emergency departments. These are used to measure patients' blood pressure, pulse and traces their heart patterns.
Outside, the Trust will be spending £360,000 on window and roof replacements and £50,000 on the upkeep of the car parks and roadways. £75,000 will also be spent on upgrading accommodation for nurses, doctors and other staff.
Nick Gorvett is the Trust's Director of Corporate Infrastructure and is responsible for maintaining and improving the hospital's buildings. He said: "Every year, we spend millions of pounds on the upkeep and improvement of our hospitals. This year, we're pleased to announce that we'll be ploughing almost £10 million into our buildings, land and hospital equipment.
"It's going to be a great boost to the Trust and something that we hope all of our patients, visitors, staff and volunteers will benefit from. These improvements will allow us to continue to provide the best possible care in a safe, clean and welcoming environment."
The new funding is on top of longer term plans the Trust has for improving its main hospital sites, including spending £219 million on a major redevelopment of St Helier.
In addition, up to £70 million will be spent on the Epsom site under proposals agreed by the Trust Board in November last year.
During 2009/10, the Trust invested more than £10.3 million in improving the hospital sites, which included a £300,000 refurbishment of the day case unit at Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, £180,000 on a new birth centre at St Helier and £550,000 refurbishing Alexandra ward at Epsom.
