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The £80 million redevelopment of the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI), reached another milestone today as the Board of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UH Bristol) approved the full business case for the redevelopment.
At the end of March it was announced that the Trust had secured the £70 million loan for the refurbishment by the Department of Health. The Trust aims to sign a contract with construction company Laing O’Rourke in the summer.
Robert Woolley, Chief Executive, said: "We have worked on this redevelopment for many years and today is a very big day for the Trust, for our patients and for our staff. We are redeveloping our hospitals to improve the hospital environment for our patients and our staff and the new facilities will enable us to transform the ways in which services are delivered to patients. This redevelopment will enable us to work more efficiently, ensuring that patients are diagnosed and treated quickly and are only admitted to hospital if they need to be. We are working with our NHS partners in this area to transform care for our patients and this is a very important part of this."
The redevelopment will consist of a new ward block built on the Terrell Street site behind the BRI, refurbishment of the Queens building, the conversion of wards in the King Edward building and the retirement of the Old Building, which still houses Nightingale inpatient wards.
Dr Chris Monk, a Consultant Anaesthetist and Head of the Division of Medicine, said: "This is fantastic news. The Old Building, built in 1735, is the oldest NHS building still in clinical use. The inside of the Old Building and the King Edward Building are old-fashioned and impractical. Not designed for modern practice, either for medicine or surgery, the buildings have limited and inflexible space which means our staff face huge challenges in delivering their high standard of care for adult patients. The new and updated buildings will enable our clinicians to improve care for patients and will also enable us to work more efficiently."
(CD/GK)
