A once-in-a-generation investment programme into local NHS services has taken a major step forward as building work gets underway at St Mary’s Hospital.
The Investing in Our Future programme, due to be completed by Spring 2024, will deliver much needed improvements to upgrade hospital and community-based services to provide better quality care for a healthier and more resilient Island community.
Isle of Wight NHS Trust Chief Executive Darren Cattell, local MP Bob Seely, Operations Director Mark Norris, Contracts Manager Derek Jackson and Project Manager Matthew Wilks from Kier Construction, joined Joe Smyth, Director of Operational Performance at the Trust and Councillor John Nicholson, Chair of the Policy and Scrutiny Committee for Health and Social Care, for a breaking ground ceremony to mark this milestone.
Isle of Wight NHS Trust Chief Executive Darren Cattell said:
“I am delighted to celebrate this important milestone in our Investing in Our Future programme. The £30.4m investment in our hospital and community based services will see improvements to patient care, the environments we provide care for them in and transformation to our community mental health provision.”
Bob Seely MP said:
“I am delighted that work has now started on this important project that will give NHS services on the Isle of Wight a major boost.
“Millions of pounds of Government investment will not only help to upgrade facilities in St Mary’s, improve patient flow in the hospital and enable better use of beds, but it will also provide a much-needed integrated Mental Health and Community Hub in Newport High Street.
Article continues below this advertisement “These changes will benefit both our wonderful NHS staff and patients and I cannot wait to see the transformation take place over the next year or so.”
The investment programme will see a new £6.7million integrated mental health and community hub based in Newport and an improved £6.4million intensive care unit, a £12.2million new emergency floor and £5.1million acute bed reconfiguration at St Mary’s Hospital which will enable better use of beds and the separation planned and emergency inpatient care.
Further details about each of the projects, including patient and staff benefits, frequently asked questions as well as patient and visitor information to help plan a visit to St Mary’s Hospital during the works can be found on the Investing in Our Future website at www.investfuture.iow.nhs.uk.
Sticking plaster over a gaping wound is how I would describe this. We need a whole new hospital, not just some little extension glued to the side of St Marys. It’s great to see Bob is using a very clean shovel / spade / fork, I guess that is the first time he has even handled one.
Digging his own grave, I see.
Darn it, you got there before me! Presumably the other six are there to fill it in once he is in it!
You can add on these fancy buildings at the taxpayer’s cost, but it still doesn’t address the lack of front-line nurses. Furthermore, what the Island needs is another hospital away from Newport.
I remember, as a child spending much time at Ryde County Hospital. I remember ‘Matron’ walking around the ward, wiping her finger on surfaces to check it was dusted and germ-free. If not, she would summon a nurse with “nurse” and point to the area for cleaning. I don’t recall ever seeing bed blockers; to the contrary, there were many spare beds with wonderful nurses.
I don’t recall anyone getting a secondary health condition due to viruses, lack of cleaning etc. There was none of this ‘outsourcing’ to third-party investment firms either.
Stefan, in those days we had over 350 elderly care beds but utterly incompetent management since the late 1980’s have decommissioned and turned most of them into offices for the legions of administrators.
Compared to the cost of the cost of trained nurses and doctors this building work costs peanuts. The IW NHS trusts spends well over that amount on agency staff because of the lack of permanent staff.
This is just a “crowd pleaser” for the hard of thinking.
as for “bed blocking”, this is almost exclusively due to a lack of care places. If there were sufficient care home beds to discharge elderly patients to there would be no bed blocking.
Totally agree, it seems that as the population on the island gets ever larger the infrastructure for them gets ever smaller. Having a council full of useless idiots doesn’t help matters.
Well said, nor did anyone have to “merry-go-round” the car parks either for a free parking space.
Totally agree with everything you have said, I was admitted to Ryde once was the result of a car accident, second time was a severe throat infection and the third time was for what at the time was a specialist xray resulting in an overnight stay.
Excellent treatment every time.
In their wisdom they built a ‘New’ St Marys that could, so they said, handle all the needs of the IOW population back in the 80’s and closed everything else down and now we don’t have the capacity for the number of patients that need hospital treatment.
Hello, the population in 1980 was about 110,000 it is now well in excess of 140,000.
You come from another time when people only went to hospital when they were ill, you could see afamily doctor within the week and families took care of their own elderly relatives as opposed to chucking them in a home when they passed their useful stage
7 reasons stood there why the NHS and the country is the mess it is. 7 parasites drawing and inflated salary and then having the gall to try stand in front of a camera. Shame on you Seely. How much expenses did you claim for this jolly boys outing? Parasites.
Oh lovely picture.. but where is Snow White?
Look at sausage seely! What an absolute melt! Sooner he’s gone the better, any opportunity for a photo shoot Bobby boy! T@@T
Look at his expression you will think he pays for it
remember just after the new bit was built they had to replace all of the stainless cladding because they used ordinary non stainless nuts and bolts causing rusting through not being bonded earthing cost hundreds of thousands, nice having new buildings but you need staff ie nurses doctors ,not wokes saying to many drakes not ducks on the pond
Hillarious 5 of them have KIER written on their helmets in preparation for next general election!
Having read the disgusting comments that Mr Seely made to an NHS nurse last week regarding nursing strikes I would say that actually helping the local nhs provisions is the last thing in his mind. Foul misogyny and mocking mental health problems on the tv as well. Horrible little creep, can’t wait til he Bobs off!
Old HMV shop? Are they going to call it ‘Looney Tunes’ ?
More PPE than sense! Another excuse to spend public money on their mates contracts. Not seen Bob for months. That hospital is in dire need of rebuilding programme, not another infill annexe patched on it.
Instead of giving 16 million to Portsmouth ya could have ploughed it back into st Mary’s to add more staff and do a retraining programme to improve on the ridiculous quality of care that is now in situ!@@@