Kettering hospital £400m rebuild commitment reconfirmed by government

Work to rebuild Kettering General Hospital (KGH) has been reconfirmed today by the government in a meeting in the House of Commons.

MP for Kettering Philip Hollobone met with the Secretary of State for Health Steve Barclay MP and the Hospitals Minister Lord Markham.

The ministers reconfirmed to Mr Hollobone that KGH’s place in the national New Hospitals Programme has been secured.

They promised a ‘£400m+ fully-funded, redeveloped, improved and expanded’ hospital due to be completed on the existing site by 2030.

Philip Hollobone MP said: “This is really good news for local residents. The redevelopment of KGH is the number one local priority for local people.

"With the number of new houses in North Northamptonshire growing all the time everyone knows that we need an expanded and improved hospital to cope with a growing local population.

"I have been pressing the government to reconfirm its commitment to the redevelopment of KGH and I am really pleased that the Secretary of State has confirmed to me in person in the House of Commons that the funding commitment is fully secured in line with the original development timeline.

"KGH is a much-loved and much-used local hospital which has been on the same site for 126 years and this renewed funding commitment means that we are on track to have a redeveloped, improved and expanded KGH by 2030.”

Main construction is due to start in 2028, with initial enabling works already under way and the construction of a £34m net-zero new energy plant for the expanded hospital due to start in spring 2024.

The larger hospital will include a new urgent care hub to replace and enhance the existing A&E.

Some early works to clear parts of the KGH site for redevelopment have already been completed and Integrated Health Projects, a consortium that includes local firm Sir Robert McAlpine, is now officially on board as KGH’s construction partner.

The first works residents may see is likely to be the highway trenching required for the laying of a £4m high voltage (HV) cable between Field Street in Kettering town centre – the nearest HV sub-station – and KGH.

The installation work due to start in January 2024 will see a cable go under the Rothwell Road railway bridge.

KGH is working with another local company, High Voltage Systems & Services, based on Telford Lodge, to complete the plan.

As part of the rebuild scheme the government has promised that hospitals will be designed to make use of the ‘latest innovations to benefit patients and staff’.

They have promised ‘digital connectivity’ and integrated systems to reduce the ‘administrative burdens on staff’ meaning that more time is spent on patient care.

New wards will have single rooms will improve hospital occupancy through greater infection prevention and control, and give patients better experiences in terms of privacy, dignity, and sleep.

For Kettering this will be continuing plans for their energy centre, as well as further non-clinical infrastructure to prepare the site including demolition, re-provision of car parking and a data centre.