Burnley General Teaching Hospital’s brand new £15.6 million development has been officially opened and will open its doors to welcome patients in a matter of days.
Local MPs and dignitaries joined hospital staff to celebrate the unveiling of The Fairhurst Building, named in honour of the Chairman of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT), Professor Eileen Fairhurst.
The state-of-the-art Fairhurst Building, completed ahead of schedule and within budget, provides patients and staff with high quality facilities for outpatient appointments, ophthalmology and maxillo facial treatment, in bigger and better surroundings that meet increasing demands.
At the opening event, Professor Fairhurst, said: “Today is a great day for the Trust, our patients, staff and the local community, and represents a further significant investment in the long term future of Burnley General Teaching Hospital.
“It is a great honour, not only to officially opening the building, but also having my name on it! What we offer patients in this new ‘Fairhurst Building’ is the same first class care as before, but now provided in first class facilities.
“Staff and patients deserve the best the NHS can offer and, in the Fairhurst Building, they will receive the very best treatment in one of the finest health facilities in the country. I would like to pay particular tribute to the outstanding efforts of all the people who worked so hard to get the Fairhurst Building open on budget and ahead of schedule.”
Kevin McGee, Chief Executive of East Lancashire Hospitals added, “We couldn’t be more proud to have a building such as this. Patients will benefit from new and improved facilities which offer the best possible care in the best possible environment. They will not only benefit from state-of-the-art modern facilities but will have faster access to their care and treatment because the Fairhurst Building has been designed to accommodate the latest technology and innovations in healthcare.”
On the ground floor, the easy access Outpatients Department provides a total of 21 consulting rooms and a dedicated blood room, an important specialist facility that the previous outpatient facilities did not have. The new Outpatients Department will be of huge benefit to staff and the 58,000 patients who visit each year.
In addition, the new maxillofacial unit comprises a laboratory, four consulting rooms and a minor procedures theatre to perform surgery including head and neck cancer reconstruction, skin cancer and facial deformities.
Mr Colin Johnston, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Clinical Director for Head and Neck, said: “For many years, as a team, we have made the best of our facilities but have long wanted to expand and improve the way we deliver our care.
“So we are delighted that the Trust has invested in a state-of-the-art Maxillofacial Unit on the hospital site. It will give us the capacity to see patients in a more timely way and in a better and more modern environment.”
Located exclusively on the first floor, a new Ophthalmology Centre features two theatres, eight clinic rooms, a laser room, day unit and computerised tomography (CT) room.
ELHT Clinical Director and Consultant Ophthalmologist Mr Bertie Fernando, said: “It is a very busy and exciting time as we celebrate the opening of these superb new facilities.
“We already achieve excellent outcomes for ophthalmology and maxillo facial patients and the new facilities will provide a far superior patient experience.
“I can assure ophthalmology patients attending the Fairhurst Building that they be treated by the same expert clinical teams but in a much more modern environment which enables improved care.”
With the training and familiarisation programme for staff well underway, the Fairhurst Building is fully prepared to welcome its first patient in mid-October.
Completion of the Fairhurst Building is the latest milestone of a £60 million* development programme at Burnley General which began in 2003 and demonstrates ELHT’s long term commitment to delivering truly integrated, high quality treatment and care across East Lancashire.
In the last three years alone, ELHT has invested significant funds in the hospital with the opening of the new Lancashire Elective Centre, the Primrose Chemotherapy and Breast Care Unit, Children’s Outpatients and upgrade of the hospital’s theatres.
Following planning approval in early 2018, the ELHT Capital Projects Team, working with principal construction partner IHP-Vinci and GillingDod Architects, completed construction of the Fairhurst Building in less than 18 months.
*£60 million investment covers the construction of the Burnley Urgent Care Centre (2013), Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre (2011), Phase 5 (2009), Lancashire Elective Centre (2016), Primrose Chemotherapy Unit (2017) and Children’s Outpatients (2017)