Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Have your say on plans for hospital
New details of the design and plans for the replacement Monklands Hospital have been shared as part of this month’s online public consultation on NHS Lanarkshire’s proposals for the Wester Moffat facility.
A dedicated website shows the layout of departments and the hospital’s “village concept” design, along with indications of new road and pedestrian accesses to the 142-hectare farmland site.
The development comes hot on the heels of NHS Lanarkshire officially completing the purchase of the Airdrie site.
They describe the landmark moment as “an important step in the project to provide a replacement University Hospital Monklands”, in place of the four-decade-old existing building at Monkscourt Avenue.
And designers and health board officials called the Monklands replacement project plans an “exciting and positive vision” and “a major investment in Lanarkshire’s hospital estate”.
The consultation website shows how the hospital’s expanded ground floor would allow vital departments including emergency, radiology, outpatients, cancer care and radiotherapy to be located together, alongside the state-of-the-art operational command centre and the “main street” entrances and circulation area.
It indicates three more levels to the building, respectively housing specialisms such as care of the elderly, dialysis and infectious diseases on the lowest floor; cardiology, respirator, renal, ear nose and throat plus operating theatres on the first floor; and haematology, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, urology and medicine on the top level.
Wards are arranged in an arc of buildings shaped and positioned to “take advantage of the site opportunities” including its woodland setting and views across the North Calder Water, with the aim of “drawing the landscape into the building”.
Participants in the online consultation are told: “The concept for University Hospital Monklands is based on a series of regular green spaces linked by the main pedestrian street – this is the spine of the building, punctuated by secondary streets and departments and illuminated by daylight from glazed open spaces.
“It will support the required clinical model [and its] ambition to shift care away from inpatient treatment to day, outpatient and community care; develop pan-lanarkshire centres of excellence; and support the healthcare needs of the wider west of Scotland.
“An important aspect of the design is provision for future expansion of the building – the facility must be designed to allow future adaptation and service expansion or reconfiguration for a growing, ageing and changing population.”
Development teams are currently working with North Lanarkshire Council on provision for the East Airdrie link road which will be the main access to the hospital, saying: “The site boundary has been sized to allow the potential for a section of the road to be delivered as part of the project if necessary.”
Visitors and staff will have “increased parking provision compared to the current hospital,” and there will be a dedicated public transport drop-off with NHS Lanarkshire working with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport to “ensure that the frequency of bus services from communities across Lanarkshire will be as good as, or better than, current services to the existing hospital”.
A pedestrian and cycle route will be developed from Towers Road and Drumgelloch station along the existing nature trail, with the environment being an important consideration in the design and construction.
Consultation information states: “The landscape will provide patients with highquality spaces fit for a modern healthcare facility. An extensive area in front of the hospital will be developed as a natural leisure amenity [and] it is intended to introduce large amounts of tree planting to reduce the apparent scale of the development.
“The new hospital will be the first in Scotland to be designed from the outset to be net zero for both the build and operation phases, meaning it will not contribute to carbon emissions.”
On the health board’s purchase of the site for the new hospital, chief executive Heather Knox said: “We’re delighted by the successful conclusion of the purchase of Wester Moffat Farm to provide a home for the new University Hospital Monklands.
“It is being designed to offer the best possible healthcare to local communities for decades to come; and confirmation of the land purchase is very welcome news as we continue to develop the project’s business case.
“Through the acquisition of the site, the Scottish Government has once again underlined its strong commitment to the Monklands replacement project and the benefits an ultra-modern replacement hospital will bring.”
Live public consultation events will take place online tomorrow, from 4pm to 8pm, and Saturday, from 12 noon to 4pm.
Feedback is to be submitted by March 29 by emailing mrp. team@lanarkshire.scot.nhs. uk, calling 01698 752 320 or sending comments by post to Freepost RTEJ-HZLK-AETZ, Communications Department, NHS Lanarkshire, Kirklands, Fallside Road, Bothwell, G71 8BB.