Have your say on KGH rebuild and new urgent care hub

Bosses at Kettering General Hospital will hold an event next week so people can share their views on their "once-in-a-generation" rebuild.

The ageing Rothwell Road hospital - parts of which date back to the 1890s - has been selected as one of 21 included in the Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP2), a national hospital rebuilding programme.

It will also receive funding for a £46m urgent care hub to replace its existing A&E department and provide new community urgent care facilities all in one place.

And on Monday (September 28) they will hold their first online public event to start to gather the views on what is important for local people as it develops plans for the schemes.

Group chief executive Simon Weldon said: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Kettering General Hospital to radically improve our facilities to ensure we meet people’s healthcare needs.

“At the moment the hospital has a wide variety of different services in locations that have been used - in some cases - for more than a hundred years.

“This is a chance for a major redesign of our facilities and an opportunity to think differently about how we provide them.

“We want to know what local people’s top priorities are given the opportunity we have to invest in hospital services and facilities.”

People will be able to watch a joint presentation from Mr Weldon and director of strategy, Polly Grimmett, which will explain why they need this investment and the process they need to go through to access these national capital funds.

The presentations will be held at 2.30pm and again at 7pm which anyone with internet access can join and contribute online.

People will be able to, through a chat function on the broadcast, make comments and suggestions on areas they feel are important.

After the broadcast KGH will be gathering together all of the comments and using them to help inform and shape the their proposals.

For people unable to join the presentation live there will be the opportunity to view it afterwards on the trust’s website and share their ideas via email, although responses will need to have been received by the trust by October 9.

To view the 2.30pm presentation, click here. To view the 7pm presentation, click here. The links will also be on the hospital's website.

KGH’s director of strategy, Polly Grimmett, said: “I want as many local people as possible to join this broadcast so that we can share our proposals and so they can help us to develop them further.

"This is such an important development for the 330,000 people that live in the Kettering General Hospital area.

“We have an amazing opportunity to work together to create a well thought-out and much improved environment for hospital services.”

The hospital currently has about £400m in funding for the rebuild and must develop a Strategic Outline Case for the HIP2 investment by spring 2021.The case must include the views of local people, KGH staff, health, social care and local authority partners, and other stakeholders.

The hospital will then continue to refine its case through a national approvals process, involving NHS England and Improvement, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Treasury.

The aim would be to start work on major improvements in 2024. Work on the Urgent Care Hub should proceed ahead of the HIP2 capital investment beginning by the end of 2021.

The hospital opened on October 30, 1897, with a £1,000 annual budget. Now the annual budget is £250m. Last year it saw about 100,000 patients through the doors of A&E.