KGH given £1m to spend on upgrading its urgent care facilities
Kettering General Hospital has been given £1m by the Government to spend on upgrading its urgent care facilities ahead of Winter during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On August 10 the Prime Minister announced that 117 NHS trusts in England have been allocated a share of £300 million to strengthen their facilities.
Trusts were asked to submit schemes that would benefit from the investment through NHS England/Improvement.
At Kettering General Hospital the money will be used to expand its Same Day Emergency Care unit (which sits alongside A&E), and make adjustments to its Paediatric A&E department (now in the hospital’s Foundation Wing) along with other minor works to ensure its emergency care areas meet Government social distancing guidelines.
Kettering General Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, Jo Fawcus, said: “We are delighted to have had our project approved as part of the national plans to prepare for Winter.
“Our aim is to further improve social distancing arrangements within the hospital to keep our patients safe.
“All projects have to be completed by the start of the New Year, so we have already worked up plans for the work and will progress them as soon as possible.”
Other Government investment is also planned for the hospital over the next few years.
In October 2019 the Trust received Government approval for a £46m Urgent Care Hub to transform emergency care provision in North Northamptonshire.
The hub will include a new A&E department for the hospital along with other GP and community facilities to enable good access to appropriate NHS care.
The scheme is currently going through the business case process with work to start potentially as early as the end of next year.
The Trust is also included the Government HIP2 hospital building programme which will help it to start to completely rebuild and transform its facilities.