I had a fascinating meeting this week in parliament with the new hospital minister Lord Markham and the team designing the national building programme, including our new hospital at the DGH.
I was updated on the work to design the modular building approach, called hospital 2.0, that will allow hospitals to be constructed at a central build site and then assembled on location. This will give taxpayers better value for money.
The modular approach is set to dramatically reduce the cost of hospital construction, and allow for a far greater patient experience, with 100% single en suite rooms. In addition, new digital infrastructure is expected to be able to cut the expected stay in the hospital by 20%
Modular construction is also allowing the NHS to rationalise its materials needs. I was told that the NHS used to have 27,000 types of doors. The figure is now down to 700! mind-boggling!
Eastbourne's new hospital is expected to be around the end of the decade, but we already have spades in the ground at the £34m Elective Care Hub that will allow more operations on site.
We discussed how the supply chain will need to expand to meet the needs of all the new hospitals across the country over the next 15 years. It is a huge national project.
I was also keen to explore how we can ensure the new hospital works with our local education providers to incorporate construction apprenticeships into the plans for the new build and help local people be part of building our new hospital.
I was told there is great potential to better link up the employment needs of supply chains with the infrastructure projects of government. I will be looking to meet the team to discuss this in more detail.
I will be hearing more about the DGH plans for the hospital when I visit soon to meet the local design team. I will also touch on paediatric services. The latest update I have received is positive. The hospital is closely monitoring the changes it has made at the DGH and feel they are working but I know some parents remain concerned; I understand that, I’m mum to a child with complex medical needs myself. In this context, the independent review to come is very significant. I continue to brief the Secretary of State after calling in the decision.
