Work starts on hospital’s £44m super-centre

LAUNCHING the construction work are (from the left) John Saxby, chief executive at the Pennine Acute Trust, with Olubusola Amu, clinical director and consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, and Maria Turner, ward manager at the Royal Oldham Hospital

IT WAS shovels at the ready as construction work to build the new £44 million Women and Children’s super centre began at the Royal Oldham Hospital yesterday.

John Saxby, chief executive of the Pennine Acute Trust, and Olubusola Amu, clinical director and consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, donned hard hats and high-visibility vests to officially launch the build with trust colleagues and representatives from Vinci Construction, which is carrying out the work.

The development, situated directly behind the accident-and-emergency department, will involve the construction of a four-storey building and the refurbishment of existing wards in the main hospital.

It will include new delivery rooms, obstetric theatres, a paediatric theatre, more maternity beds and a new neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU).

When the work is complete, the Royal Oldham Hospital will be one of three regional centres providing the highest level of intensive care to the smallest and most vulnerable babies.

The Pennine Acute Trust, which runs hospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, North Manchester and Bury, has been preparing the site for building work to start since plans for the new multi-million development were given the go-ahead by the Department of Health in August.

To date it has spent £250,000 laying new utilities and improving the road layout and footpaths across the hospital site.