Staff at Musgrove Park hope to open £87m surgical centre by the end of 2025
Staff have confirmed work on the project is going ahead, despite concerns it may be scrapped
Last updated 8th Nov 2024
Bosses at Musgrove Park Hospital say they hope to open a brand new surgical centre by the end of next year.
Staff have confirmed work on the £87 million project is going ahead, despite concerns it may be scrapped.
Conservative campaigner and farmer James Wright raised fears the building may be stopped due to the funding being removed, but NHS staff have assured Greatest Hits Radio the money has already been given and work is well underway.
Dr Rouri Moulding is a consultant anaesthetist and the clinical director for theatres, critical care and anaesthetics.
“It’s night and day the difference between what we’ll have in a years’ time and what we’ve got now,” he said.
“The infrastructure of the current hospital is not really fit for purpose.
“We’ve got aged buildings, we’ve got buildings from the second world war. The prospect of opening this new build is thoroughly exciting.
“We’ve got brand-new facilities and it’ll really make a difference to the people of Somerset.
“We’re very lucky to have this,” he added.
The surgical centre will replace the current hospital theatres and critical care unit, which were built during the Second World War,
It will also house a brand new endoscopy suite.
In total the centre will include:
• Six endoscopy rooms, patient recovery and clinical support areas.
• Eight operating theatres (including two state-of-the-art hybrid operating theatres that can be used for both surgery and interventional radiology), recovery areas and clinical support.
• 22 critical care beds, all specified for level 2 and 3 critical care patients.
“The current facilities that we have are old and out-dated,” said Charlotte Parkman, the clinical manager of general theatres.
“They were built by the Americans during the war and it’s one of the oldest functioning operating theatres in the UK.
“I’ve been here 12 years and there’s always been the talk of a new surgical centre.
“It’s going to be clean. It’s going to be fresh. It’s going to be light. Just improving the building that we are in can really help.”