New private hospital for Bournemouth 'desperately needed'
It forms the central part of a proposed 'innovation quarter' near Talbot Heath
Last updated 29th Dec 2022
Plans for a new private hospital for Bournemouth are being described as desperately needed, as their current facilities are not fit for purpose.
Nuffield Health has put in plans for a rebuilt site, as part of an 'innovation quarter' around Bournemouth University, near Talbot Heath.
It's hoped work will start in 2023, at a cost of ÂŁ100 million, and take two years to complete.
Hospital Director, David McNair, says it'll make a huge difference to them:
"We've got to the stage where we've outgrown this site. We just do not have enough capacity it terms of clinic rooms and outpatients, and we are literally bursting at the seams. By building this new hospital, we will be increasing significantly the footprint of the healthcare market in Dorset and Bournemouth."
The plans are central to the Talbot Innovation Quarter, that's being proposed by the Talbot Village Trust.
That's aimed at bringing together the university campuses with the local community, while boosting high-skilled jobs, and the Dorset economy to the estimated tune of ÂŁ97 million per year.
David McNair from Nuffield Health says the new hospital will also increase Dorset's healthcare provision:
"We're probably one of the most inefficient sites at the moment, which gives us many gains to be had by building a new state=-of-the-art hospital. This current building was never really built in terms of what a modern day hospital facility should look like."
Plans the innovation quarter, including the hospital, are now in with BCP Council.