HOSPITAL DEVELOPMENTS SINCE PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK IN 1994.
1998:
Thoracic Surgery, the first specialty to move into the hospital after
the US forces left, was relocated to the Bristol Royal Infirmary
April 1999: Frenchay
and Southmead NHS Trusts merged to become the North Bristol NHS Trust.
Frenchay DHQ - the Georgian House - became the HQ of the new Trust.
1999: The Admin
buildings near the lime tree drive entrance were demolished and new
buildings put up to house the re-located Burden Neurological Unit from
the old Stoke Park complex. Completed in 2000.
1999: Ward 29 and the
original 1930s school building were demolished in the Spring and a new
facility built - the MacMillan centre. Completed in 2000.
1999: Wards 8, 9 and
10 were demolished and a new unit built - the Barbara Russell
Children's Unit funded by the Jack & Jill Appeal. Opened May
2000.
1999: The old lodge
house near the lime tree drive entrance was taken over by the Frenchay
Tuckett Society and turned into the Frenchay Village Museum. Opened
April 2000.
2000: Block 95/96
(?used for what in US times) and the adjacent two long blocks, used
respectively as a gymnasium and VD ward in US times, and as residences
later, were demolished in July. In the roof space of the gymnasium were
discovered numerous insignia of the patients' Units.
Some of the Insignia revealed in the roof space
2003.
The stable block (circa 1890) of the Georgian house, having become
progressively more derelict over the decades, was finally 'rescued'. A
year or two earlier the NHS Trust had donated the building to the
Multiple Sclerosis Society to be made into a 'Centre of Excellence'. By
June 2003 planning permission had been granted for the work and the
work itself was hoped to start later in the year. £1.5 million needed
to be raised. However, the prospect of total closure of the Frenchay
campus was still being actively considered and the MS Soc became unsure
about the viability of their scheme. By October 2003 things were still
not clear. However, in November, the charity cancelled their plans. The
fate of any future MS centre remains unclear. By 2005 there was still
no clear future for the building. Things were complicated even more by
the uncertainty of the whole site raised by the proposed redevelopment
of the hospital services in North Bristol - see below.
2004/05
During 2004 the whole future of NHS services in and around Bristol was
under consideration. Within this was the future of both Frenchay and
Southmead hospitals. It was felt that major hospital services should,
and could, only be provided on two Bristol sites. Since the BRI was
already undergoing major upgrade, this meant that either Frenchay or
Southmead would cease to be a major hospital and that all their
combined services would be located on one or other site. However, both
sites would also contain a 'Community' hospital with out-patient, minor
injuries, X-ray facilities and, possibly, some rehabilitation beds.
On 2nd March 2005, following all the consultation that had taken place,
the outcome was announced. Southmead was to be the site of the major
hospital, along with its Community version. Frenchay would become a
Community hospital, with all the changes to be complete within the next
8 years. ?RIP Frenchay hospital?
However, things became very complicated as a result of other Govt
initiatives. It became clear that, because of the 'Patient
first' policy, which meant that all patients needing hospital treatment
had to be offered a choice of at least 5 hospitals, then it could be
that the development of the major hospital at Southmead (or Frenchay,
come to that, if that had been the choice) could possibly attract
insufficient patients to bring in enough of the planned estimated
income.
Further complications were associated with yet another Govt scheme.
They had established a purely surgical hospital at Shepton Mallet with
plans to build a similar unit 'in close proximity to the M32'. I wonder
where that could be?!!
2007
In February 2007 the Govt. finally gave the go-ahead for the Southmead
development, with a planned start in 2008 and completion in 2013. In
April the future of Cossham Hospital was clarified- it had been Cossham
& Frenchay Hospital Management Committee when I started back in
1966 . Here's what appeared in the Evening Post:
"06/04/07. Services at the refurbished hospital will include outpatient
clinics, community clinics including physiotherapy, a minor-injury
unit, imaging, including x-ray and ultrasound, and a patient
information centre.
The plans also include improved accommodation for the Alma Road
practice and local authority community care staff based on the site.
The development will mean Kingswood residents will only have to go to
major hospitals for more specialist treatments."
2008
In March it was announced NHS South West has put aside £19 million for
Cossham hospital's refurbishment. It is expected that work will start
in 2009 with completion in 2010 and will contain a stand-alone birth
centre run by midwives.
4
Sept 2009
The following article appeared in the on-line edition of the Bristol
Evening Post:
On this day an exhibition of photos and art work - a time line of the hospital's history - was opened in the main corridor of the hospital. I contributed some of the pictures . The whole project was created and managed by Claire Underhill as the lead artist. When Frenchay eventually closes the exhibition will be transferred to the new hospital at Southmead.
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The 1940s The 2000s
2010 The following article appeared on the BBC's Bristol web site on 17/05/2010
Refurbishment of Bristol's Cossham Hospital to begin
Twice as many appointments will be offered by the upgraded hospital
Work on a £19m refurbishment of Cossham Hospital, in Kingswood,
Bristol, is set to begin on 1 June.
The upgrade is being funded by the South West Strategic Health
Authority following a campaign by residents to save the hospital from
closure.
A contract has now been signed between NHS South Gloucestershire and
the builders ISG Pearce, which means work can start.
The hospital is expected to re-open in early 2012 once work is
completed.
Midwife centre The improvements will include the first stand-alone,
midwife-led birthing centre in the area.
The refurbished hospital will be able to accommodate double the
previous number of outpatient and physiotherapy appointments, and it
will have a new minor injuries service, X-ray, ultrasound, MRI and CT
scanning departments.
It is estimated the number of patient visits to the hospital will grow
from more than 70,000 in 2008/09 to nearly 140,000 in 2012/13.
Podiatry and the special care dental service will move from Kingswood
Healthcare Centre to purpose-designed facilities at Cossham.
Penny Harris, chief executive of NHS South Gloucestershire, said:
"After years of working in partnership with local people to plan the
refurbishment of Cossham and the services we will deliver from Cossham
Hospital, building is finally set to start on site within the next
month."
14th September 2011: From
the Bristol Evening Post
This is how the new Frenchay Hospital in Bristol could look when it
opens its doors in 2014.
The illustration shows how a community hospital on the site could look
after the existing acute hospital is downgraded and replaced.
A new building has been proposed for the 68 rehabilitation beds,
outpatient beds, therapies and diagnostic tests that will be available
on the site when surgery and emergency services transfer to the new
Southmead Hospital.
North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has identified where
on the Frenchay site the new hospital could be built along with a
nursing home and extra care housing, which will be part of the plan to
make it a health and social care centre.
Space will also be left available for a GP surgery on the site.
They are now looking for an outside organisation to work with them on
the project and are planning to advertise for potential bidders in the
Official Journal of the European Union later this month.
The proposals, which were due to be discussed by South Gloucestershire
councillors at a meeting today, would see a third party arranging for
the building of the centre, with the NHS leasing facilities from them.
The Evening Post understands that the hospital trust is looking into
the possibility of an organisation such as St Monica Trust being
involved in the project because it already has expertise in providing
varying levels of care on one site. Its Sandford Station site in North
Somerset includes flats and cottages with extra support available, a
nursing care home and a specialist dementia care facility.
NBT chief executive Ruth Brunt said that there would be the option for
a nursing home to be provided alongside NHS beds as part of a flexible
and integrated approach to patient care.
As previously reported in the Post, development experts were brought in
by the hospital trust to look at the 70-acre site to help assess which
of the existing hospital buildings should be kept.
A parcel of land at the north of the hospital site has been identified
for the social care centre, where work could start while the main
hospital is still open.
There are no clinical services based on the site, only Second World War
Nissen huts used for storage, the linen exchange and some car parking.
The trust hopes to start the competitive process with bidders in
December ready to finalise a contract by next November, with the aim of
opening the new hospital by April 2014.
Mrs Brunt said that once the partner was appointed the trust would work
on a master plan for the rest of the site, which will look at which
buildings should be demolished and what land might be surplus and sold
off. Money made from the sale would be reinvested in health services.
The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit and Burden Centre are due to stay
on the Frenchay site and discussions are continuing with other
organisations including WRVS, Headway and Bristol Area Stroke
Foundation about whether they will remain on the site.
Community hospital services at Frenchay were originally due to be run
by NHS South Gloucestershire but planned changes to the health service
mean that NBT will now lead the project.
Mrs Brunt said: "We are keen to consider all opportunities which will
allow a range of services to be developed on the Frenchay site.
"The inclusion of extra care housing could further enhance this model
allowing local people access to differing levels of support to suit
their needs."
From Bristol Post
On-line. 25 Oct 2012
DOUBTS have emerged over whether a community hospital will be built at
Frenchay.
The NHS announced yesterday that plans for a health and social care
centre on the Frenchay Hospital site will be delayed while a review is
carried out into how services for frail older people will be organised
in the future.
But a suggestion that any community facilities on the site will not be
in place until 2015 has caused some to fear that the long-promised
hospital will never be built on the site.
The NHS has said it is committed to delivering high-quality services
but could not confirm that those services would be provided from a
community hospital at Frenchay.
When it was announced that the superhospital for the north of Bristol
would be built at Southmead, residents were told that there would be a
community hospital at Frenchay. Now campaigners and residents fear that
with other alternative facilities now in place in the north of the
city, the NHS may not be able to justify spending money on services at
a Frenchay community hospital.
Cossham Hospital is due to open with community services within months
after a £19 million refurbishment and there is now also a minor
injuries unit at Yate.
Concerned residents have told The Post they fear that these may be used
as an alternative to the Frenchay plans. One, who asked not to be
named, said they could not understand how community services that would
be accommodated elsewhere following the closure of the existing
Frenchay Hospital in 2014 would then be relocated back to the site a
year later.
The plan for a health and social care centre at Frenchay, revealed last
year, was for a partnership with a private organisation which would
build and run the site. Under the plans a contract was due to be
finalised next month.
Now NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) has
revealed that a review across the patch will look at services for older
people, rehabilitation and urgent care. The organisation said the
review would be completed in the spring ready for proposals to be in
place in 2015.
Chairman of the new South Gloucestershire clinical commissioning group
Stephen Illingworth, who is leading the project, said: "Because of the
timing of the review we will have to delay the plans for the Frenchay
Health and Social Care Centre. We appreciate that the delay is
difficult for everybody, particularly for stakeholders who have worked
so hard with us on the Frenchay Health and Social Care Centre Project,
but we do need to ensure that the models of care will deliver what we
and patients want – high quality services that improve health and
wellbeing that we can sustain for the long term."
NHS BNSSG programme director for strategic development Ben Bennett said
he could not make promises about how services would look ahead of the
review.
"We have to be absolutely clear we have got a plan that stacks up,
considering all the things that have shifted," he said.
"I don't think anyone wants to see us going ahead without us figuring
out all the details."
Save Frenchay Hospital Group campaigner Barbara Harris said assurances
had been given that there would be a community hospital at Frenchay in
2004 – before Cossham Hospital was saved from closure and an
independent sector treatment centre built at Emersons Green.
She said: "We were given firm assurances that the community hospital
would be an integral part of the main hospital provision – now to be
told all these years down the line that it may not happen is
disgraceful. If we don't get this hospital we will have nothing. There
is no alternative to a community hospital."
From BBC Bristol News 13 April 2013
NHS confirms Frenchay to get community beds
The NHS has committed to provide new community beds on the Frenchay
site when the existing hospital closes.
South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning group will build a 68-bed
centre alongside a nursing home owned by the private sector.
Services provided at Frenchay are due to end when a new hospital opens
in 2014 at Southmead, bringing together specialist teams from both
sites.
Work on the new community services is not expected to begin until after
2014.
In a statement the South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group
said it had "reaffirmed its commitment to the development of community
beds on the Frenchay site as part of a health and social care centre".
The news has been welcomed by the Save Frenchay Hospital Group.
"The future of Frenchay hospital is an incredibly important and emotive
local issue and I'm encouraged by the local health bosses' response to
our campaign," said John Godwin, former chairman of the group.
Updated 16 April 2013