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Hospital set for £70m PFI revamp

Adam Derbyshire
23/ 8/2006

TAMESIDE Hospital will undergo a massive £70m rebuilding programme after ministers gave the green light for work to begin.

Crumbling buildings will be razed to the ground and replaced by sparkling state-of-the-art facilities in the biggest overhaul the Fountain Street site has ever seen.

New operating theatres, wards, x-ray clinics and a children's centre will be constructed along with a multi-storey car park and new main entrance.

Under the scheme, known as a Private Finance Initiative, a private firm will fund the project with the NHS paying off the cost over a 25-year period. Work is scheduled to begin in 2007 and expected to take four years.

On Friday health minister Andy Burnham approved plans for six new hospitals across the country and said it was "great news" for thousands of patients.

But unions said the schemes were "expensive and inflexible".

Old buildings will be demolished to make way for modern purpose-built facilities and hospital bosses agree the development will create more jobs.

A spokesman said: "We are delighted. Over the last few years the quality of services we provide has improved dramatically, leading to better health in the local population.

"This will lead to benefits for thousands of patients each year, as well as providing improved facilities for visitors and staff."

Critics will point to recent figures which revealed the hospital has the second highest mortality rate in the country and the lowest doctor-and-nurse-to-bed ratio in Greater Manchester.

However, it has scored the maximum three-star rating for two years running in national performance tables. And it is among the best in the country for emergency waiting times and its maternity services.

Local MPs James Purnell and David Heyes have welcomed the scheme, adding that the buildings are in "clear need" of investment.

But Mike Jackson, senior national officer at Unison, branded it "a waste of taxpayers' money".

"It simply adds to the current financial burdens of many hospital trusts," he said.