Shortfall of funds delays new wards
FUNDING issues mean there will be no new ward space built at Royal Derby Hospital “for at least another year”, despite extensive efforts from health leaders.
Managers at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust have had plans in the works for new wards filled with dozens of new beds for years.
However, they have been held back by a lack of sufficient funding.
This week, a new planning application filed by the trust to Derby City Council sheds light on that exact issue.
In winter 2018 the trust installed a “temporary” pop-up flat-pack 29-bed ward on Royal Derby Hospital’s short-stay park.
This has taken up valuable parking spaces at a site which frequently sees patients and visitors complaining of queues and insufficient spots.
This issue has lessened due to the pandemic with fewer people travelling.
The city council had approved plans in September 2018 for several permanent ward extensions at the hospital totalling 72 more beds by building three additional floors on an existing building.
This extension would also include five isolation rooms, a stem cell unit, eight respiratory units and a treatment room.
It formed part of an £11.5 million plan to prepare the hospital for winter. However, these plans have been held back by a shortfall in funding.
The trust has now submitted plans to extend the use of its temporary unit on the short-stay car park by an additional two years.
It writes in the planning application: “Unfortunately, work has still not commenced on the permanent ward extensions owing to funding difficulties.
“The trust is working to resolve these issues, as well as exploring possible alternative accommodation solutions, however there will be no new accommodation available for at least another year.”
In July last year, the trust made a pitch for a potential £59 million bonus intended for capital projects such as ward extensions and a long-awaited new multi-storey car park at the Royal Derby. However, this funding bid was not successful.
At the time, Gavin Boyle, chief executive of the hospital trust, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I don’t think we have suffered a delay yet but we do need to put in place some alternative arrangements as soon as possible.
“We aren’t delayed, we are just back where we were, we are no worse off.” In late 2018 the hospital trust agreed a loan from Derbyshire County Council totalling £9.8 million to help pay for a 1,000-space multi-storey car park at the Royal Derby.
This, too, appears to be on hold until more funding comes forward. Both NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care were approached for comment on whether they were aware of the hospital trust’s funding shortfalls for new bedspace and if money was on the way to help it out. However, neither had responded at the time of this article’s publication.