News

Kettering General Hospital’s bid for a £46m Urgent Care Hub for North Northamptonshire has been approved by the Government.

The announcement was made by Health Minister Edward Argar MP today (Wednesday October 23, 2019) in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament.

He made the announcement in response to issues raised by Kettering MP Philip Hollobone in a debate on health and social care this morning.

Mr Hollobone set out the case for an Urgent Care Hub, described the campaign championed, by himself, and supported by Wellingborough MP, Peter Bone, and Corby MP, Tom Pursglove, since 2012 to get approval for the build, and highlighted the very urgent need for it to meet growing demand in North Northamptonshire.

Mr Argar described his recent visit to Kettering General Hospital and his tour of the A&E department and said how much he admired the work done by staff and the way they have dealt with the difficulties of rising demand.

He also cited the amazing work done every day by our staff and the compelling case set out by the KGH team for a new development.

He said: “I am delighted to inform the House and Honourable Members that in the next capital review £46m for the Urgent Care Hub has been approved by Her Majesty’s Government.”

He then described how his officials, and NHS England, would be in touch with the Trust to enable work to on the project to proceed as swiftly as possible.

Kettering General Hospital’s Chief Executive, Simon Weldon, said: “This is fantastic news for the people of North Northamptonshire and for the staff at our hospital.

“Building an Urgent Care Hub is exactly what we need to address the significant growing demand for emergency care in an area that is one of the fastest growing in England in terms of population and housing.

“Our existing A&E department was designed for 40,000 people 25 years ago and this year is set to see 100,000.

“As a result it is often over crowded leading to clinical, patient flow and privacy and dignity issues and a poor working environment for staff.

“The Urgent Care Hub is designed to address all of that and enable local people to access the appropriate services for their needs in one key location.”

The Urgent Care Hub concept for North Northamptonshire was developed by Kettering General Hospital in close cooperation with its health and social care partners.

It will enable local people to access GP, mental health and A&E services appropriately all under one roof ensuring people see the right clinician, in the right place, first time.

Kettering General Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, Jo Fawcus, said: “When it is complete this development will have enormous benefits for local people and for hospital staff.

“It will be a high quality purpose-built unit which can help us improve patient flow and address all of our privacy, dignity concerns and space issues.

“It will support appropriate care for patients with people being directed to the right clinicians for their need whether that be GPs, mental health professionals or specialist hospital staff.

“It will be a shining example of healthcare professionals – from many different disciplines – working together under one roof to provide the right care for our patients in a quick and appropriate way.”

On October 9, 2019, the Trust received a letter from Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, confirming that it will receive a share of £100 million of Government Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP2) seed funding.

The Urgent Care Hub is the first priority stage of a full redevelopment of the hospital that will be set out in a business case using the HIP2 seed funding.