Publish date: 23 December 2024
Here’s a message from Chris Knights, Programme Director for Healthier Futures:
As I write this and reflect on what has been an incredible year, I can only be thankful for working with a team of professionals with a shared passion and commitment to deliver what will be the biggest investment in mid Cheshire for over 50 years.
As grandiose as that observation may appear to be, it is nonetheless based on the very simple measure of where we were on 1 January 2024, compared to where we are today.
Today, we have an experienced and dedicated Healthier Futures project team to support the Trust with the delivery of the new Leighton Hospital and health and care neighbourhood.
From the development of our project offices, establishment of all workstreams, appointing technical advisors, to the recruitment into all key roles, and beginning regular engagement with our staff and communities, the achievements of 2024 have been nothing short of fantastic.
To describe everything we have done would be too much for this festive update, but there a few key milestones that stand out.
In March, we reached the first significant milestone when we completed the purchase of land directly next to the existing hospital site. This will enable us to create a more efficient building in a shorter timescale than what a gradual replacement of the hospital within its existing boundary could have achieved.
In September, we launched a microsite which is now our central hub for all news, updates, and events about the new hospital programme. During this month, we were also assessed by the New Hospital Programme in relation to our readiness to move forward to the next stage of the Business Case process. The NHP confirmed our team was able to move forward and commended the team on the progress that had been made.
Our plans also took a major step forward in September when the government announced that our scheme will be exempt from its review of the national New Hospital Programme.
Meanwhile, in October we hosted three public and two staff engagement sessions, which were the first opportunity for people to learn about our plans. We are grateful for all the feedback received, which we have aligned with our 10 key themes.
Since then, we have maintained an ongoing process of speaking and listening to people about our plans by getting out to a variety of locations and events. This has included attending Crewe Library, Nantwich and Weaver Rotary Club, an older people’s forum in Tattenhall, and Shavington High School for a careers event, where we spoke to young people about future employment opportunities both in the NHS and at the new hospital. We have also continued engaging with our staff by holding pop-up visibility sessions at Leighton Hospital, Infinity House in Crewe, and the Victoria Infirmary in Northwich.
By aligning our project fully to the principles and standards set by the New Hospital Programme we have secured pathfinder status for our project. This culminated in the mention of a new Leighton Hospital by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, during her Autumn Budget statement in the House of Commons.
In October we also received news that our Strategic Outline Case (SOC) has been endorsed by the National Hospital Programme’s Investment Committee. The SOC was the first of three business cases we needed to complete before we can begin construction of our new Leighton.
We are also in the final stages of agreeing the Outline Business Case (OBC) timetable. The OBC, which is the second business case, is where we will start to design our new Leighton in more detail and marks the start of a step change in our engagement with our staff, patients and communities.
We have achieved a lot in short space of time, and the work of the last few months, since the change in government, has been particularly important in securing agreement for the size, scale, and scope of the project, as well as our delivery timelines.
There is much to do in 2025, and the team is fully committed to making the progress required over the next 12 months that will hopefully make our new hospital a reality by 2030.
