Yahoo News 'We spent £105 MILLION after being promised change, now we could be left surrounded by crumbling Victorian bricks'
Manchester is now home to a state-of-the art mental health facility – but there are fears that the £105.9m inpatient unit could become an ‘island’, surrounded by crumbling 19th century buildings which make up the rest of the hospital site.
North View is a new mental health unit sitting in the North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) grounds in Crumpsall. But the opening of North View last month has been met with frustrations from senior NHS sources.
Hospital bosses built a state-of-the art facility to fit with the brand new hospital they were long promised – the money never came. Now, experts fear that the £105m facility will be marooned as an ‘island’ of modernity.
The land occupied by the old mental health facilities is desperately needed to expand the rest of the decrepit Victorian hospital, say sources close to the project. And if the government reneges on five years of pledges to rebuild the Victorian-era hospital, North View will stand on its own as the sole modern facility.
NMGH bosses have been waiting half a decade for the final approvals to start the transformation of the Crumpsall site, which was selected as one of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ‘40 new hospitals’ in 2019. To get ready for the major overhaul, later titled the New Hospitals Programme, a new mental health facility was planned for the north Manchester site.
Work began in 2022 to replace Park House, which housed ageing mental health wards at North Manchester General. The Park House buildings are now set to be demolished in the new year now North View has opened in its place.
But without a formal commitment from the government for the rest of the NMGH plans waiting for the go-ahead, that land could languish empty while woefully lacking space in the rest of the hospital has grave consequences.
The government’s refusal to commit to the reconstruction of the rest of the North Manchester General site will hamstring the efforts of mental health carers hoping to hasten the recovery of patients with modern hospital surroundings, argued one source at North View. And doctors across the rest of the NMGH will continue to be hamstrung by the lack of space and facilities fit for a 21st century major hospital, said another source at the trust which runs the hospital.
Conditions have been compared to a ‘19th century workhouse’, as:
A lack of single rooms means dying patients have to be moved to open wards because of the demand for isolation space for people who are infectious
Consideration has to be given to which patients can be put on wards on upper floors as they need to be mobile in case the need to be evacuated because of fire
Many of the buildings are plagued with dangerous RAAC concrete
The Manchester Evening News is campaigning for the government to commit to the urgent rebuilding of North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH). In response to the fears around North View becoming an ‘island’, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the M.E.N.: “We are committed to delivering the New Hospital Programme. The programme we inherited was years behind schedule and the funding ran out in March.
“We are working up a timeline that is fully-costed, honest, and will rebuild our NHS so it can deliver the best possible care for patients.”
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Operating theatres shut down, clinics for expectant mums plagued with mould
Along with a galling lack of space for patients, several operating theatres had to shut down for weeks following ceiling collapses, while others were closed due to inadequate ventilation that could have heightened infection risks. Clinics for expectant mums were forced to move due to visible mould on the walls caused by leaky roofs.
A pharmacy and the entrance to the walk-in centre, the department where women go to be investigated for cervical cancer, are all housed in portable cabins.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting had hinted at the redevelopment finally going ahead, with plans ready to go. But those designs were called in for a government spending review in September, and there has been no solid commitment since.
The M.E.N. has started a petition urging Wes Streeting to:
Commit to fully fund the new hospital and
Prioritise the rebuild for 2025.
There is no suggestion that the hospital would close, but the need for redevelopment is critical. Staff tell of problems ‘every single day’ caused by the ageing estate – and money is being used just to keep buildings functional, effectively just to ‘stand still’.
Change north Manchester deserves
Park House saw people treated in mainly dormitory-style hospital accommodation with little outdoor space. The new North View mental health hospital promises to ‘significantly improve’ the experience for patients, including their privacy and dignity.
The bespoke, purpose-built development was delivered on time and in budget, said Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, in charge of the facility. North View will provide:
150 single en-suite bedrooms to be provided over nine single sex wards, including a purpose-built psychiatric intensive care unit, seven adult acute wards for female and male adults, one rehabilitation ward, one older adults’ ward and a treatment suite for research and innovation
An assessment suite (specifically for people needing a place of safety and assessment under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act).
A variety of internal activity areas and multiple outside garden spaces to aid recovery.
The plans to rebuild the rest of NMGH aim to be even more transformative, overhauling one of the most deprived parts of Manchester.
Tackling health inequalities is the "holy grail", according to health experts, who believe this investment could actually make the dream a reality: bringing jobs and housing, and supporting people on long term sickness back into work. It could drastically improve lives in an area where people die younger and live in ill health longer – an area where people lose a decade compared to those in other parts of the country.
The full plans would turn the ageing buildings into a health ‘campus’, including:
A new, fully-modernised district general hospital with a refurbished A&E, walk-in centre, labour wards, operating theatres, x-ray and outpatients facilities, where care and treatment is closely integrated with community services and supported by state of the art digital systems and remote monitoring
An education hub to attract, train and develop the region’s best doctors, nurses, and health care workers
New housing which could include worker accommodation, social housing, and step down care for those not ill enough to be in hospital and not well enough to be at home
A wellbeing hub to deliver community-based care and support with a café, allotments and a village green
Shops and offices which would stimulate local business and jobs
Five years of empty pledges
But while there have been repeated promises, no government has ever fully committed to funding the work and a date for it to begin. We say this must change – hospital bosses need the urgent go ahead so work can begin in 2025 as promised.
In 2023, Tory peer Lord Nick Markham, responsible for delivering the 40 new hospitals, promised the Manchester Evening News that construction would commence in 2025 and conclude by 2030. Yet again, the hospital was left without the necessary funds to begin.
Both before and after the General Election, Wes Streeting committed to the multi-million pound plans for North Manchester. But Mr Streeting issued an apology in the autumn, stating that the plans required re-evaluation as part of the government's spending review on new hospitals.
There are now more than 2,700 supporters of the M.E.N.’s campaign. Many have shared their stories of just how desperate the situation is inside the crumbling hospital where so many of them go to be born, live, work and die.
Please, if you do one thing to make a difference today, sign our petition.
