HOSPITALS TO REBRAND FOR POST COVID ERA
HALTON Hospital has celebrated the return of services closed for the pandemic by renaming its buildings in Runcorn after NHS fundraising hero and veteran Sir Tom Moore and nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale.
The Cheshire And Merseyside Treatment Centre for orthopaedic surgery will now be known as the ‘Captain Sir Tom Moore Building’.
Meanwhile, the older Halton General Hospital, opened in 1976, has been renamed the Nightingale Building in honour of the world’s most famous nurse who celebrates a bicentennial anniversary in 2020 – the World Health Organisation year of the nurse and midwife.
The names were picked by staff in a poll.
A spokeswoman for Warrington And Halton NHS Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust (WHH) said the overall site is also losing its ‘General’ part, meaning it is now the more concise Halton Hospital.
She said WHH was ‘honoured’ to have been granted permission to rename the newest part of its estate after Captain Moore to celebrate the centenarian who raised more than £30m for NHS charities during the pandemic.
The hospital is now moving into what it called a ‘new normal’, having been granted Covidsecure status.
Some services have restarted at Halton Hospital, including endoscopy, the chemotherapy centre and planned investigations.
All patients will be fully screened ahead of attending for their procedures and the wearing of face coverings, hand sanitiser, social distancing and visiting restrictions will be in place according to Government guidance.
The WHH spokeswoman said Halton Hospital’s occupancy dropped to a record low of 40 patients during the pandemic before settling at 60, which is 50% lower than the trust’s ‘worst days’ in the year.
A spokesman for The Captain Tom Foundation said: “The family have been truly humbled by the gratitude and love they have received from far and wide and it is particularly heartening to hear how the funds are being used and that they are going to such good causes.
“Captain Tom would be delighted for you to name the Cheshire And Merseyside Treatment Centre after him, he is extremely flattered that your staff suggested it.”
Professor Simon Constable, WHH chief executive, said: “This is an opportunity to relaunch our dedicated elective site at Halton Hospital in a way that recognises the legacy of COVID-19 while honouring two very different individuals that did so much for their country in such unique ways. The Trust hopes that these names will be forever associated with a positive human spirit in 2020.”