East Riding Community Hospital Opens Its Doors

The new East Riding Community Hospital will be welcoming its first patients from Monday 30 July.

The 10 acre site at Swinemoor Lane Beverley has been transformed into a hospital fit for the 21st century, providing 30 beds for intermediate care, rehabilitation and palliative care. Other key services include:

Outpatient consultations and treatments, including a state-of-the-art audiology suite
Minor Injuries Unit
GP out of hours services
Diagnostics (including digital x-ray, ultrasound and facilities for mobile CT and MRI scanning)
Therapy services for adults and children
Wheelchair assessment

The opening of the £19 million development this week will provide residents with a facility that meets NHS East Riding of Yorkshire’s vision to bring more services from the larger hospitals outside the East Riding into the local community.

Patient care at the East Riding Community Hospital will be provided by Humber NHS Foundation Trust and Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust. The hospital will primarily serve the Driffield, West Wolds, Beverley and Hornsea communities.

Around 300 people got a first glimpse of the new building at the recent hospital preview day. Feedback on the day was overwhelmingly positive with visitors impressed with the ‘spacious environment’, ‘high standard of equipment and patient accommodation’ and ‘light airy feel to the building that will have a positive impact on patient care’.

Art and design has been integral to the hospital construction programme and art produced by local residents that portrays the natural beauty of the East Riding features throughout the building.

A local artist was commissioned to develop a pasture/meadow theme to run throughout the building to reflect the surroundings of the Swine Moor. This attractive theme is reproduced on curtains, in waiting areas, link corridors, on glazed panels, and benches in the landscaped courtyards.

Karen Knapton, Chairman of NHS East Riding of Yorkshire, said:

“This is a long-awaited and very proud day for everyone closely involved in the Community Hospital project. Throughout the project we have focused on the people who are going to use the hospital and how it will help deliver better health outcomes for patients. It is an outstanding building and we have been very pleased by the positive reaction from staff and local residents.

“Whilst NHS East Riding of Yorkshire will no longer exist from April 2013, I am delighted that we have been able to get this important piece of our Community Services Strategy in place to serve community health care needs for many years to come.”

Dr Gina Palumbo, Chair of the East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said;

“I am very pleased that the clinicians who will be working within the hospital have been involved in all stages of the project. The Clinical Commissioning Group will be looking to work with other NHS partners to commission services that make maximum use of this fantastic asset for the people of the East Riding.”

David Snowdon, Chief Executive of Humber NHS Foundation, said:

“We have an excellent, very dedicated team of staff working throughout the Hospital and I’m delighted to see them settling into their new working environment. Everyone has shown a great deal of interest in the project from the start and staff have welcomed the size and layout of new treatment areas, the high standard of patient accommodation and state-of-the-art equipment that will allow them to provide the best possible clinical care.

“Many teams will now be working closely together for the first time, which can only be beneficial for patients.”