Plans unveiled for new £25m Prudhoe Hospital
Last updated 13:36, Thursday, 11 September 2008
A NEW £25million mental health hospital planned for Prudhoe is another step closer to reality.
Plans for the 40-bed complex in the grounds of the old Prudhoe Hospital were unveiled at a public exhibition last week.
The planning application will be submitted by the end of the month.
Designed to be a world-class centre of excellence in the treatment of young people with mental health problems, the developers hope to begin construction by next summer.
If all goes according to plan, the new hospital will open in 2011.
Not only will it secure the jobs of the 150 staff currently working on site, but also bring another 30 or so jobs in its wake.
Head of property and planning for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Mental Health Trust, Andrew Poplett said: “The trust is delighted with the plans for the new facility, which will care for children and young people.
“We are acutely aware of how important the hospital site is to residents in Prudhoe and we feel that, as in the past, the public will have a hospital to be proud of.”
A series of medical, residential and educational units have treated mental health problems on the site for the past century.
At its peak during the 1970s, the old Prudhoe Hospital housed 2,700 patients.
However, following the advent of care in the community, the size of the operation was scaled down dramatically.
Many of the buildings are now empty and derelict.
Under the plans, most of those on the 26-acre plot the mental health trust now owns will be demolished, paving the way not only for state-of-the-art medical facilities, but recreational, educational and therapeutic services, too.
The complex will cater for young people aged eight to 18 with mental health problems, ranging from severe learning difficulties, depression and eating disorders, among other things.
The youngsters could spend anywhere from three months to several years at the hospital.
“Besides the medical facilities, this is also about improving the quality of life of the children and adolescents concerned,” said Mr Poplett.
“Some of them have already transferred over from the young people’s unit that used to be in front of Newcastle General Hospital, where there was no play or recreational space for them at all.”
The trust has already earmarked £20million from its central government funding for the project.
The remaining £5million will be raised by selling off some of its 26 acres to private developers for housing and a new residential home for the elderly.
While the trust owns half the existing hospital site, it leases the other half – complete with historic Prudhoe Hall and a Victorian walled garden – from Government land management agency, English Partnerships.
Mr Poplett said: “We recognise there is a lot of local concern about the future of the old hall and the walled garden.
“But we would like to reassure people that we have an obligation under the terms of the lease to protect these valuable buildings.”
A significant investment would be made in improving the condition of the two, he added.
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