Hospital drums up support for LGI programme
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has stepped up its efforts to secure government backing for its redevelopment ambitions, with a public engagement phase triggered ahead of detailed planning.
Plans for Leeds General Infirmary will include a new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital, a new adult hospital and one of the largest single-site maternity centres in the UK.
Outline consent was secured in 2020, with the hope being the project – accepted as one of pressing need for health in West Yorkshire – would get the necessary backing through the Conservative government’s much-trumpeted new hospitals programme.
Sign-off and the central funding required has not been forthcoming. Despite the changes in government and its attendant delays since, progress has been made locally with planning and preparatory works, including having a cleared construction site.
The Trust said that this is “one of the most advanced and ready-to-go schemes in the national New Hospital Programme” and will be one of the first to seek full planning consent.
Against all that is the necessity to convince central government Leeds should be near the front of the funding queue. On revealing designs for the 990,000 sq ft project at outline consent stage, the project was estimated at £450m, but that may now have climbed by as much as £300m.
This phase follows a coordinated push by the Trust and Leeds City Council to make Leeds’ case heard ahead of the Labour government’s maiden Budget in October.
Now live, the public engagement campaign will be ramped up in January, updating stakeholders, local councillors, MPs and members of the public on the latest progress, the Trust’s advanced design, and its proposals to secure full planning consent.
Events, workshops and an online information hub will be available for members of the public to obtain updates and pledge support for the new hospital plans as they are worked up by the professional team.
Leeds partners are also looking to advance the neighbouring Innovation Village, a centre of excellence for research and healthtech.
Professor Phil Wood, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We’re committed to our plans for a new hospital, including a new Children’s Hospital here in Leeds. Our new hospital is essential to continue to support the delivery of our world-class children’s, maternity and adult services and will bring enormous benefits to patients, staff and communities in Yorkshire and beyond.
“Our new hospital will also bring excellent value for public money and, by creating an Innovation Village, will deliver the latest technology to patients’ bedside and bring a huge economic boost to the region. Our plans for the new hospital are among the most advanced and ready-to-go schemes and we’re proud to be among the first Trusts to make this positive step forward towards securing full planning consent.
“As a Trust, we have been faced with national delays over the past four years which have incurred more than £300m in additional costs to date. These delays have continued to place operational and financial challenges on us and we are keen to mitigate the impact of any further national delays and resulting cost increases where we can. We continue to engage with the New Hospital Programme on our plans, which have received strong support from MPs alongside regional and national stakeholders.”
The online element of the engagement process is now live and can be accessed here.
