New hospital preparatory works begin at the QEII
Some initial preparatory works which involve the demolition of some of the site’s outlying buildings and moving the services they house into refurbished areas in the hospital’s main tower block commenced on 5 March 2012.
Levels 5, 7 and 8 in the QEII’s tower block, which were used up until October 2011 for inpatient maternity and gynaecology services prior to their move to the Lister hospital, will be refitted so that Ascot’s Day Hospital services, Stanborough elderly care ward, Pear Tree maternity outpatients clinic and some administration teams can be moved from their existing locations.
This initial work is the first step in getting the site ready for developing the New QEII hospital, on which work is expected to start in earnest later in the year. During this work we will be refurbishing several levels of the current QEII tower block to support the following moves:
- Stanborough ward will move from its current location next to the Ascot’s Day Hospital to level five (formerly Lemsford ward);
- The services in the Ascot’s Day Hospitals will be moving to level seven into the renamed Lemsford Suite, which will also house the Pear Tree clinic (maternity outpatients). The pre-admissions and waiting list hub has moved to Sandridge ward adjacent to the Lemsford Suite;
- The GP out-of-hours service will move into an area adjacent to A&E.
The empty buildings will then be demolished to make way for a temporary car park that will be needed before the main work on the New QEII hospital gets underway later this year.
The New QEII
NHS Hertfordshire (the primary care trust) is leading the development of a new QEII Hospital on the Howlands site in Welwyn Garden City.
The new hospital will include a Local A&E facility to look after the vast majority of people who currently use the A&E service at the QEII. The Local A&E services are being planned by East & North Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Hertfordshire. The Local A&E will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assess and treat patients who have an injury or condition that may be severe but not critical or life threatening, such as a broken bone, burns or cuts. The vast majority of patients who need urgent medical help will be seen at the QEII.
When the Local A&E is up and running it will treat a wider range of illnesses and injuries than the current minor injuries service does. Adults and children of all ages, including babies, will be diagnosed and treated there by GPs with experience of working in an emergency department, supported by highly skilled emergency nurse practitioners.
Examples of what the Local A&E will be able to treat include:
- Abdominal pain
- A child with a fever
- Broken bones
- Deep cuts needing wound stitching
- Burns and scalds
The CCG and the PCT are now working to produce a detailed specification for the Local A&E so that the new service can begin in September 2013, operating from existing buildings, before the new hospital opens the following spring.
Other services at the New QEII will include:
- General outpatients
- GP services, including in the evenings and at weekends
- Diagnostics – such as CT and MRI scans, x-rays and ultrasound
- Rapid Assessment Unit – for patients who need urgent assessment and diagnostics but do not need to be admitted into hospital
- Endoscopy and day treatments
- Ante and post natal services
- A dedicated Children’s Centre
- Therapy services – e.g. physiotherapy and occupational therapy
- The Vicki Adkins Breast Unit
Space on the overall Howlands site has also been set aside for a possible future facility to provide beds for older people who need extra support to help them when they leave a major hospital.
Outline planning permission for the building of the new hospital was granted by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in September 2011.
Next Steps
Work on the detailed design development continues and the latest plans, drawings and images of the new hospital were shown at several stakeholder events during December 2011. The plans and images that were displayed at the stakeholder events can be seen on NHS Hertfordshire’s website.
Key Dates
- April 2008 – Stakeholder event to help decide the site for the new hospital
- July 2008 – PCT board approved the current QEII site as location for the new hospital
- February 2010 – Architect (Penoyre & Prasad) appointed to develop New QEII Hospital
- February 2010 onwards – New QEII Hospital planning work
- November / December 2010 – Public exhibition on QEII site redevelopment master planning
- February 2011 – Submission of QEII outline planning application to Welwyn Hatfield Council
- March 2011 – Stage 1 Business Case approved by NHS Hertfordshire and the Strategic Health Authority
- September 2011 – QEII outline planning approved
- September 2011 – Commenced Stage 2 development work
- December 2011 – Stakeholder events to showcase design development
- Spring 2012 – Stage 2 Business Case and Financial close
- Spring 2012 – East & North Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) developing plans to enhance current QEII overnight service with GP support
- Summer 2012 – Construction of New QEII expected to begin
- September 2013 – Local A&E to begin operating in existing buildings before opening of new hospital building
- Spring 2014 – New QEII completed
