KGH given £1m boost to prepare for winter

Kettering General Hospital has been given a £1m funding boost to upgrade its urgent care facilities as it braces itself for winter.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced 117 English NHS trusts would share a pot of £300m to help them strengthen their facilities as they also face the ongoing Covid pandemic.

So far more than 200 Covid patients have died at KGH although the number of Covid inpatients at the hospital has significantly decreased.

The Rothwell Road hospital has now been given £1m, which 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).

It will also be spent on other minor works to ensure its emergency care areas meet social distancing guidelines.

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.”

The funding is the latest boost for KGH. In October 2019 the trust received Government approval for a £46m Urgent Care Hub to transform emergency care provision in the north of Northamptonshire.

The hub will include a new A&E department for the hospital along with other GP and community facilities. The scheme is currently going through the business case process with work to start potentially as early as the end of next year.

It is also included the Government's HIP2 hospital building programme for a complete rebuild and has about £400m so far.

Last week we revealed the vision for the rebuild could be revealed in months and it's hoped construction could start in 2023/24.

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