Hospitals to be sold off as new site due to open

THE NHS has said a new hospital in Gloucestershire is due to open in spring 2024. The plans will see two existing hospital sites sold off.

The new 24-bed Forest of Dean Community Hospital is due to open in Steam Mills, Cinderford, while Lydney Hospital and the Dilke Hospital will be put on the market.

Transition plans will begin within the next few months, with teams and services gradually moving out of the former hospitals to the new site.

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust had previously planned to move the existing X ray machine from Lydney Hospital to the new hospital, meaning there would be a disruption to X ray services.

However, having now agreed funding, it is in conversation with potential suppliers about installing a new machine, which should provide a smoother transition for X ray services in the Forest.

The trust has notified the Forest of Dean District Council that it will first market Lydney Hospital for sale, followed by the Dilke Hospital, in Cinderford, at a later date.

One part of the Lydney Hospital site – Stonebury House – will be retained by the trust as it will continue to be occupied by several teams for the foreseeable future.

Both sites have been registered as Assets of Community Value, which means that they have recently been used and could be used in the future to further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community.

With the hospital sites being Assets of Community Value this provides a six-week window for any community groups who wish to purchase the sites, or parts of them, to prepare and express an initial bid.

As an NHS organisation, the trust said it must follow strict guidelines while disposing of sites that have become surplus to requirements.

This includes generating best value – both financial and social – so that any capital can be invested in enhancing patient care while releasing public land for new use.

The Lydney Hospital site will be marketed by Alder King.

Meanwhile, work is under way on a new skatepark in the Miner’s Field in Cinderford. This forms part of the wider project to build a new hospital for the Forest of Dean.

Replacing the former skatepark in Steam Mills Road – now the site of the new Forest of Dean Community Hospital – formed part of the plan when the hospital proposal was agreed in March 2022.

The skatepark is being built by Mavericks, and designed in collaboration with a skatepark user group, which has included skateboarders and BMX and scooter enthusiasts.

The design incorporates features for each group, in a graded layout which provides easier obstacles at the top and more complex terrain further down.

Work is at an early stage but a large bowl, with surrounding rail, is taking shape at the far end of the park.

Current estimates are that the work should be complete by the end of the year.