Trust reveals £28m plans for Wirral hospital ‘fit for 21st century’

Jun 18 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

Kathy Doran, Chief Executive, Wirral Primary Care NHS Trust _320

A WIRRAL hospital could under-go a £28m transformation under plans revealed by the borough’s Primary Care Trust.

The week of the 60th anniver-sary of the NHS will mark the start of a major consultation on exciting proposals for the multi-million pound transformation of St Catherine’s Community Hospital, Birkenhead.

Wirral Primary Care Trust (PCT) will launch a 12-week exer-cise on July 7 to seek the views of the public, patients, partners and staff on its vision to build a new community hospital – “fit for the 21st century”.

Constructed at a cost of £28m, this would provide a new home for clinical services presently in outdated Victorian buildings on the Church Road site.

It would enable local people to benefit from a range of new ser-vices including outpatient clin-ics, minor and day case surgery facilities, X-rays and other tests, and health and life-style advice closer to where they live.

Kathy Doran, (pictured), Chief Executive of Wirral PCT, said: “We want St Catherine’s to be a community hospital in the truest sense. Our plans would give the site a new lease of life, ensuring it plays a real role in health and wellbeing of local people and contributes to regeneration of the area.

“We hope as many people as possible will take the time to find out more about our vision for St Catherine’s and share their views with us from July 7.”

The proposals involve building a new community hospital on what is the site’s main car park.

Once complete, clinical ser-vices, now housed in Victorian buildings, would relocate there and the existing buildings would then be demolished, making way for a new car park.

The PCT says there would be potential for the new building to house two local general practices, Devaney Medical Centre and Victoria Park Health Centre.

This idea, which is in the early stages of development, will be the subject of separate, detailed con-sultation with practice patients in the coming months.

Dr Abhi Mantgani, Wirral PCT’s Medical Director for Birk-enhead, said: “The development would bring a wide range of health services to local people’s doorsteps, enabling them to be treated at the right place, by the right people, at the right time.

“We want to give them an un-precedented level of choice and convenience. The opportunity for a ‘one-stop-shop’ of treatment is one I fully support as it would mean people are seen and treated quickly and closer to their own home, by a wider range of health and social care professionals.”

If the new community hospital gets the go-ahead it would open its doors in 2011.

Frank Field, MP for Birken-head: said: “This would not only improve health services for con-stituents that live down-town, but also bring in first class services and modern buildings that will benefit the whole of Wirral.”

liammurphy