A VISION for a £100m-plus development of Royal Bolton Hospital with ‘a flagship build’ has been unveiled

Bolton NHS Trust hopes to secure a slice of the Government’s Health Infrastructure Plan funding, billed as the ‘biggest boldest, hospital building programme in a generation’.

In a strategy document presented to the trust’s board, one of the key aspirations is to rejuvenate the hospital's ‘ageing estate’.

The trust will now prepare a ‘compelling’ bid for more than £100m to be spent on a ‘new flagship build on the Royal Bolton site’.

The report states: “The size and opportunity within our estate is considerable and, in 2020, we engaged a team of health planning experts to help us determine the future requirements of our women and children’s services, and to support us in identifying additional capacity for high-demand clinical services during the pandemic.

“This planning exercise has provided us with the information we need to prepare a bid for investment through the Government’s Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP) in early 2021.

“Our bid, which will be developed over the coming months with input from our clinical and operational teams, will describe the vision for a £100m plus investment in a new flagship build on the Royal Bolton site and  if successful will enable us to take a significant step towards the transformation of our ageing estate.

“We will develop a compelling case that describes the necessity for investment in our site and the benefits this will yield for our population.”

Andy Ennis, the trust's chief operating officer, said: “We know some of our buildings could be improved and developing our estate is a key priority for the next five years but we know that this will require some  significant investment.

"We are planning to bid early next year which if successful, will enable us to take a significant step forward towards making some transformation changes  that will really make a difference to our staff and to our patients.”

“One of our overall ambitions is to make sure that our hospital and our buildings are fit for the future so that our patients can be cared for, and our staff can work, in the best environments possible. ”

Mr Ennis added that new buildings had recently been constructed, including a new unit opening next month.

He said: “Over the next few months some developments to our estate will really come to fruition as we will see the completion of our critical care extension, bringing our specialists together in one unit and creating better size rooms and more side room capacity for our patients.

“In January we will be opening a new same day emergency care unit which will reduce pressure in our A&E department and enable people to go home after they have been treated, rather than be admitted to one of our wards.”

Launching the £2.8bn health infrastructure plan, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, said: "We’re giving the green light to more than 40 new hospital projects across the country, six getting the go-ahead immediately, and over 30 that could be built over the next decade.

"This is a long-term, strategic investment in the future of the NHS, properly funded and properly planned, to ensure our world-class healthcare staff have worldclass facilities to deliver cutting-edge care and meet the changing needs and rising demand the NHS is going to face in the 2020s and beyond.