Councillor asks for update on £8m plans to revamp town hospitals
Cllr David Bill is the health lead for the borough council
THE borough council’s health lead has called on Health Secretary Matt Hancock to enact an £8 million revamp for Hinckley’s hospitals “as soon as possible”.
Councillor David Bill, of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, asked for an update as it is now well over a year since the funding was promised.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said that local planning is “on track” for the project.
Cllr Bill said in his letter:
“As it is now a year since you came to Hinckley to announce that the £8m reconfiguration of
Hinckley’s Hospitals was to be funded can I please ask what has subsequently happened?
“As you will know the awaited improvements include:
■ Refurbishing the Hinckley Health Centre to accommodate X-ray/ultra sound, physiotherapy and increased number of consulting rooms
■ Creating a combined day case surgery and endoscopy unit with day-case beds at Sunnyside [Hinckley and Bosworth Community Hospital] which will provide an increased range of day case procedures and cancer screening services
■ Relocation of the out of hours primary care service from Sunnyside long will
to the health centre.
“Can I please ask that we move to implementation as soon as possible as these moves have been discussed and mulled over for almost 20 years and there is a very real need to make progress?”
The Hinckley Times asked the Department of Health and Social Care for a response to cllr Bill’s concerns and for a start date for when the upgrades would begin.
A spokesperson said: “We are investing in an £8 million scheme to transform and modernise Hinckley and Bosworth community health services and give local patients world-class care in world-class facilities.
“Local planning is on track and we are providing support to progress plans.
“Alongside this we have launched the largest hospital building programme in a generation to deliver 40 new hospitals over the next decade, backed by at least £4.8 billion.”
Mr Hancock visited Hinckley and Bosworth Community Hospital in February 2018.
Works are underway to install an X-ray machine at Hinckley and District Hospital, after the centre’s previous unit suddenly closed in September 2019 as the 27-year-old equipment had become unsafe for staff to use.
Money from the University Hospitals of Leicester capital expenditure programme is paying for the new machine, after calls from Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council to reinstate the service.
The new x-ray equipment will initially be installed in the same place it was previously, at Hinckley and District Hospital, in order to ensure it is operational for patients as quickly as possible.
Subject to approval by NHS England and to public consultation, the facilities will then move to Hinckley Health Centre as part of the wider improvement project.