Dramatic plans to redevelop a city region hospital could be revised due to "market conditions".
Under the proposals, Halton Hospital in Runcorn would be transformed into a £93m “hospital and wellbeing campus”. This is expected to include an extension to the existing Captain Tom Moore Building, demolition of the existing main hospital building, and the sale of land for 200 homes for key workers and social rent and two 60-bed care homes.
An array of other features were proposed in the initial masterplan ranging from a 30-bed rehabilitation centre, neighbourhood centre with a GP surgery, post office and shops, to a medical plaza, conference facilities and a “wellness centre” featuring a gym, pool and sports facilities. Initially expected to cost around £56m, comprising £40m of Government funding plus £16m from Halton’s public and third sector, that figure has now risen to £93m following an inflationary surge rippling through the economy.
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The Halton bid was submitted alongside Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s (WHH) proposed £317m rebuild of Warrington Hospital. A decision on both schemes from the Government is due within weeks.
Will Quince, health minister, recently told Derek Twigg, Labour MP for Halton, in the House of Commons that eight successful funding bids for hospital construction projects around the country will be announced “by the end of the year”.
Mr Twigg’s comment came after Andy Carter, Conservative MP for Warrington South, pressed the case for the Warrington redevelopment, arguing the rate of house building in the town had outpaced health services.
The trust estimates the investment would return £5 for every £1 spent, achieved via a "dramatic" fall in maintenance costs, in addition to improved health, plus “economic growth, development and prosperity”, in addition to environmental benefits.
Lucy Gardner, WHH’s director of strategy and partnerships, told the ECHO the trust is aiming to complete the Halton campus as outlined in the masterplan but other funding options are being pursued to start working on aspects of the campus plan.
This, combined with “other recent developments by partners including the local authority” (Halton Borough Council), mean the campus plans will “need to be updated” should the Government back the scheme.
She said: “ Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are working towards achieving the Hospital and Wellbeing Campus as conceptually described in the masterplan, publicised in 2019.
“In 2021, the trust submitted a bid to be included on the next wave of new hospital developments, as part of Boris Johnson’s ‘Health Infrastructure Plan’ funding scheme.
“We are still awaiting an outcome from that bid, which described the creation of a new hospital within Warrington and the creation of the Halton Hospital and Wellbeing Campus.
“In the meantime, we have identified other funding and service development opportunities to begin development of the Halton Hospital site and to realise the aims of the 2019 masterplan.
“This includes the development of:
“Additional diagnostic capacity: - in October the trust was notified of its success in bidding for £10.5m to create Phase 1 of a Community Diagnostic Centre. This will be completed in 2023 and will see increased diagnostic and imaging testing on site, as well as the construction of a multi-storey car park.
“The trust is awaiting the outcome of a bid for Phase 2 of this programme, which would see the construction of a new facility adjacent to the Captain Sir Tom Moore Building to house additional equipment and services. Additional elective capacity: the trust was successful in attracting funding through NHS
England’s Targeted Investment Fund to increase elective surgical throughput at the Halton site.”
She added: “Given these developments, and dependent upon the outcome of the Health Infrastructure Plan bid, the Halton Hospital and Wellbeing Campus plans will need to be updated, however all schemes have been developed to provide synergy and best value for money to achieve our overall vision of the campus site.
“We would expect notification alongside the Warrington bid as these have been submitted as a joint scheme. In terms of the third-party developments, we will look to work with partners to achieve these.
“It is possible that some aspects of the overall scheme will need to be re-evaluated given current market conditions as well as other recent developments by partners including the local authority.”
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