Reconfiguration

Work progresses on £35 million scheme set to benefit thousands of patients in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

Over 4,700 additional patients each year in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire will receive their planned operations and procedures sooner, thanks to a two-phase £35million initiative at Nottingham University Hospital’s NHS Trust (NUH).

An elective ‘hub’, which will include a day-case facility, three operating theatres and additional 24 in-patient beds, is being developed at NUH’s City Hospital site, adjacent to the main theatres.

Funded by the Government’s Targeted Investment Fund (TIF), the first phase of the ‘hub’ will provide 24 ring-fenced elective inpatient beds and will be in operation this winter.

Planning for the next stage - the day-case facility and three operating theatres – is in progress.

Duncan Hanslow, NUH Programme Director for Reconfiguration, said: “This funding has given us the opportunity to continue to reduce the backlog of people in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire waiting for planned procedures, as well as minimising the risk of cancellations.

“The design of the new facilities has been developed through extensive engagement with stakeholders and colleagues across NUH.

“In addition to supporting the delivery of high-quality, safe, efficient and effective care for patients, both now and in the future, the ‘hub’ will also provide an excellent working space for staff.”

Duncan added: “This new scheme very much aligns with our future vision for elective care - to create a centre of excellence at the City Hospital site, ensuring that these services are able to be accessed by all our patients, when they need them.”

The elective hub complements other recent developments at City Hospital, which include a new surgical ward that was completed in August and a further theatre suite that is expected to become operational this winter.

Active Reconfiguration Projects

Elective Hub at City Hospital

The planning for the second phase of the Elective Hub project, which is expected to benefit over 4,700 additional patients each year in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, continues to progress. 

The 'hub', which will be based at City Hospital adjacent to main theatres, will include a day-case facility, three operating theatres and an additional 24 elective in-patient beds. It will support the delivery of our Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) ambitions, to increase overall capacity and productivity and deliver high quality outcomes for patients undergoing planned surgery.

Funds for the scheme have come from the Government's Targeted Investment Fund (TIF) - an initiative first announced in December 2021 which aims to increase capacity and reduce waiting lists in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and mounting operational pressures.

Phase one of the 'hub', which comprises of the additional 24 in-patient beds, has been completed. Planning for the next stage - the day-case facility and three operating theatres – is continuing to progress.  As part of this ongoing process, the designs for the elective hub have been further developed to ensure that the hub will support us to provide high-quality, safe, efficient and effective care for patients, both now and in the future. This latest updated design includes the ground refurbishment and extension of an existing building within the main theatre estate at City Hospital, alongside the creation of a three-storey new build.

The project will complement other recent developments at City Hospital, which include a new surgical ward and a further theatre suite.

Duncan Hanslow, NUH Programme Director for Reconfiguration, said: "This funding will give us the opportunity to continue to reduce the backlog of people in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire waiting for planned procedures, as well as minimising the risk of cancellations.

"The design of the new facilities has been developed through extensive engagement with stakeholders and colleagues across NUH.

"In addition to supporting the delivery of high quality, safe, efficient and effective care for patients, both now and in the future, the 'hub' will also provide an excellent working space for staff."

Duncan added: "This new scheme very much aligns with our future vision for elective care - to create a centre of excellence at the City Hospital site, ensuring that these services are able to be accessed by all our patients, when they need them."

Endoscopy unit

Works to refurbish the Endoscopy Unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre will begin shortly.  The work will include reconfiguring the current functional therapeutic endoscopy facilities to create an additional third room.

Increasing the capacity for highly complex interventional and advanced endoscopy procedures carried out in the unit will be very beneficial.  Not only will it shorten the length of waiting time for patients needing these procedures, but it will also help to quicken the delivery of urgent diagnostic endoscopy to inpatients who are waiting to be discharged.

Once the works are completed the intention is to seek Joint Advisory Group (JAG) accreditation.  JAG assessments are carried out to ensure that endoscopy units are safe for patients and staff, and that they provide a good training environment for staff who are learning to perform endoscopy procedures. 

Work on the refurbishment is due to begin in 2025.

  1. Community Diagnostic Centre

Completed Reconfiguration Projects

Geriatric Assessment Unit (GAU)

A brand-new dementia-friendly assessment unit for older people has been built as part of a £9.8 million investment to increase the number of beds at the Queen's Medical Centre. These additional beds help to improve flow out of the Emergency Department.   

 

The 24-bed Geriatric Assessment Unit (GAU) has been designed specifically with the older person in mind, some of whom may be frail. It is ideally located as it is close to our Emergency Department, which will ensure a smooth transfer for patients who need to be admitted to the GAU unit. 

 

The construction of the £9.8million unit, funded by a national NHS England grant and built by Newton Construction, will help to improve flow through the hospital, and patients will only spend a maximum of 72 hours on the unit.

The dementia-specific features of the new unit include:

  • Bright yellow toilet doors throughout the unit to help patients find them, especially at night.
  • A clock in each room which clearly displays the day and the date. Special circadian lighting to mimic outside light conditions and help patients maintain a routine.
  • Furniture designed to prevent falls. 
  • Plain flooring to minimise confusion.
  • Different coloured walls and soothing murals in each four-bed bay to assist patients with finding their rooms. 
  • Additional CCTV and security features to prevent confused patients from leaving unnoticed.

Now that the GAU is open, older patients will continue to be admitted to the Emergency Department as normal, and the frailty team based there will do a first assessment of any patients who may be suitable for the unit.

Older patients who cannot be discharged home with community care or seen by the Same Day Emergency Care team, can be welcomed to the new GAU for observations and additional assessment for up to 72 hours while clinicians decide the best treatment for the patient.

The aim is to enable the patient to return to their normal place of residence with support in place, but for those patients who need additional support, they may be transferred to a community bed for rehabilitation or onto a ward for longer care. 

The new unit was officially opened on 18 July 2024 by Nottingham-born TV star Vicky McClure and 94-year-old patient Stanley Metcalf.

Best known for her roles in Line of Duty and This is England, Vicky has long advocated for dementia awareness, including sharing the story of her grandmother who was diagnosed with the disease, and pulling together Our Dementia Choir as part of a BBC1 documentary. The Our Dementia Choir also sang for the opening and then led a sing-a-long with the patients and staff on the ward, including classics such as ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Stand By Me’.

Leengate

In October 2024, staff and patients at the refurbished Leengate building at Nottingham University Hospitals  celebrated the first anniversary since the £8.4million refresh. 

You can read more about this here.

The Leengate building opened its doors in October 2023, following an £8million refresh.

The purpose-built facility, situated five minutes from EENT, is the new location for physiotherapy, orthotics (prescription insoles, braces, splints, callipers, footwear, spinal jackets and helmets), and for some outpatients services at the QMC. It means we have, for the first time, had the opportunity to bring specific, multi-discipline specialities together in one place, sharing the same spaces.

Within the building are 32 clinic rooms (including two large rooms to accommodate multi-disciplinary teams), a gym, which is also being used for staff wellbeing, and an orthotic walkway (a specially built corridor used to assess patient's gait). There are also rooms with improved acoustics for speech and language therapy, two 'virtual' rooms to facilitate telephone and video appointments, as well as private outside areas for patients and staff. Approximately 50-60 staff are based there.

The move in October 2023 allowed space to be released at the QMC for the Maternity and Neonatal Redesign expansion on B floor, as well as the Same Day Emergency Care expansion on A floor.

City Jubilee Unit and Robin Hood Suite

City Jubilee Unit and Robin Hood Suite

New buildings at City Hospital are now open and are set to increase elective capacity as part of our pandemic recovery plan. The buildings will provide:

  • two 10 bedded wards set over two floors (Jubilee Unit)

  • three state of the art operating theatres (The Robin Hood Suite)

  • an Enhanced Peri-Operative Care (EPOC) unit. 

Both the Jubilee Ward and the Robin Hood Suite are modular builds where the main structures are assembled off-site. The ward was completed at the end of January 2023, the first ten beds opened in February 2023, with all 20 beds fully opening in October 2023. Construction of the Robin Hood Suite which contains both the theatres and an Enhanced Peri-Operative Care (EPOC) unit was completed in March 2024, with operating lists up and running on 26 March 2024.

Jubilee Unit

The Elective Colorectal Service has relocated from the QMC to the new building, along with simple case Elective Hepatobiliary (HPB). Moving these services to the City Hospital will free up bed capacity at the QMC, putting us in a stronger position to cope with future demands on services. Public consultation on these service moves will be carried out as part of the wider proposals on the Tomorrow's NUH proposals.

The Robin Hood Suite

Our brand new theatres host a multitude of specialties including colorectal, hepatobiliary, ear, nose & throat and upper gastrointestinal.  Our new theatre suite will also cover cancer and benign surgery where some of our procedures will be performed robotically.  Moving specialties from QMC to City Hospital campus will enable our patients to have quicker access to high dependency beds, an increased bed capacity on the Jubilee Ward, and operating procedures to take place more quickly.  This saves us having to compete with the pressure of bed capacity at QMC. 

The official opening ceremony took place on 26 September 2024 with Nottingham's very own Robin Hood Cutting the ribbon.

Sitting above the theatres, the Enhanced Perioperative Care Unit (EPOC) will provide care and observe patients for 24-hours following surgery, before they are transferred onto Jubilee Ward.

Recruitment 

Recruitment is always high on our agenda  and we are often advertising for Operating Department Practitioners and Registered Nurses to work within our theatre departments.  We offer multiple specialities along with fantastic progression opportunities for all our staff members.  Keep an eye on our recruitment pages for available opportunities: Careers at NUH | NUH.