Exciting plan unveiled to secure future of Winchester's Royal Hampshire County Hospital.
Winchester health Trust have drawn up a plan to sell large parts of the Royal Hampshire County Hospital at its Romsey Road site.
Hospital boss Martin Wakeley says the landmark Victorian Butterfield building, designed with the help of Florence Nightingale, will be put on the market.
Other buildings and surrounding land identified for possible sale include next door Ashley wing, currently used as offices, outpatients, the sexual health clinic, doctors' hostel, estates office, former breast screening unit, orthodontics and refuse area off Burma Road. Marlfield House, previously used for human resources, has already been sold.
Proceeds will be used to provide "a hospital for the 21st century", says Mr Wakeley, chief executive of Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust. He said: "We are not losing any services from the site. Rather than put the money into a financial black hole, we want to re-provide services in a modern facility.” T
he plan is to move more clinical services into an underoccupied new hospital building. Three out of four floors in Burrell wing have stood empty since 2004, mainly because of lack of cash. At present, only the top floor is used for day surgery in the Treatment Centre. The aim is for outpatients, the pharmacy, ear, nose and throat department, dental surgery, day hospital, discharge and admissions lounge, all to re-locate to Burrell wing by the end of 2009.
Prospective Winchester MP, Steve Brine, is among widespread support for the move which will effectively see a new Winchester Hospital in the next few years.
He said; “I want to see a hospital in Winchester which we can rely on for generations to come. That requires world-class clinical services in buildings that are modern, safe and cost-effective to maintain for the long-term. If that means selling off some of the older buildings on the Romsey Road site, then so long as we protect the range of services available at the RHCH, it has to be right.
"Hospital services for local people must come before sentiment about bricks and mortar.”