£12m Whitby Hospital Revamp To Be Approved
Whitby hospital plan
Published by Local Democracy Reporter Carl Gavaghan at 8:52am 2nd October 2018.
A £12 million plan to remodel Whitby Hospital is set to be given the go-ahead by councillors.
The partial demolition of the town’s hospital is set to be discussed by Scarborough Borough Council’s planning committee on Thursday (4th October), with the scheme recommended for approval.
NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been working with partner organisations on the planning process of the project.
It follows design development led by principal supply chain partner BAM Construction and architectural partner Medical Architecture.
The hospital opened in 1979 but over recent years has seen the number of services on offer slashed.
According to the applicant, just 24 of 102 beds are in use on the site.
Under the changes, the site would be “modernised to provide 21st Century healthcare accommodation for 19 inpatient beds.”
An extra-care facility is proposed on the part of the hospital site that would be demolished, though no plans have yet been submitted at this stage.
In a report to go before the planning committee on Thursday, the authorities planning officer David Walker stated that:
“The application explains that the buildings are significantly under-utilised, with operational facilities spread across the site which makes the running of the hospital inefficient with unnecessary maintenance costs.
Consequently, the application in effect divides the site into two.
The NHS would retain 0.85ha on the western part of the site, where the tower element would be retained and modified to provide a continuation of existing services from a reconfigured hospital.
On the eastern and central part of the site all buildings would be demolished.”
Whitby Town Council has backed the scheme but says it has “serious concerns” about the drop in parking spaces from 112 to 82 on the site.
Parking concerns were also raised by the Sleights and Sandsend Patient Participation Group.
There is no accident and emergency service offered at the hospital, with patients having to travel to Scarborough or Middlesbrough to be seen.