Today I wanted to provide an update on the new £35m Berwick hospital, on schedule to open towards the end of 2024.
800+ modules are being pre-assembled offsite – and I recently visited the Merit factory to see for myself this exciting modern solution to healthcare that North Northumberland will benefit from.
The hospital will be ready one year earlier than traditional building methods would allow, thanks to this approach, also offering zero carbon emissions-design, lower energy consumption and enhanced infection control.
Meanwhile, work on site has begun to enable the footprint to be dug out and the foundations of the two-storey state-of-the-art building to be laid, before the steel frame is then constructed.
A temporary 10-bed inpatient ward, with all the facilities as the existing one, will be installed in the maternity car park, ensuring patients can remain in the hospital in Berwick, rather than elsewhere in the town or Northumberland. Even this only affects patients being admitted to the Infirmary, while maternity, oncology, ambulatory care and minor injury unit services will remain within the Berwick Infirmary building and will not be affected.
