30 December 2011
Trust Completes the First Phase of the Redevelopment of the Bristol Royal Infirmary
The first phase of the redevelopment of the Bristol Royal
Infirmary (BRI) is now complete. University Hospitals Bristol NHS
Foundation Trust (UH Bristol) has transferred the majority of
inpatient wards from the BRI Old Building into the King Edward
Building and reconfigured wards within the BRI in preparation for
the main phase of the redevelopment.
Robert Woolley, Chief Executive of UH Bristol, said: "In many
ways this is part of the hidden work to redevelop the BRI and the
big jigsaw puzzle that enables us to continue providing services to
patients while redeveloping the site, building a ward block
extension and moving services out of the Bristol General
Hospital.
"These improvements and changes may not be immediately obvious
to patients and visitors but they are an important part of the
project that will ultimately deliver big improvements to the
hospital environment and the way in which we work."
The entire redevelopment project will be delivered in four
phases. Phase two will see the majority of services move out of the
Bristol General Hospital to South Bristol Community Hospital in
April 2012 with some outpatient and support services coming back to
the BRI Old Building.
Phase three will deliver some of the most far reaching changes
to our site with the building of a new ward block behind the BRI.
It will include an integrated assessment unit; a purpose built
short stay unit; a state-of-the-art intensive care unit; a surgical
floor; a medical floor and a helipad on the roof of the BRI.
Phase three also includes major revisions to the adult Emergency
Department where improvements worth £1.5 million are being made.
The first part of the changes to the Emergency Department will be
completed in late January 2012, with the opening of the newly
refurbished reception area.
As the redevelopment gathers pace and activity on the site
increases it will be necessary for the Trust to make changes to the
way some of its hospitals are accessed by patients and visitors.
Access to the Bristol Heart Institute by vehicles and pedestrians
will change from 3 January and will continue until the
redevelopment is complete in 2014. Patients will be informed of
these changes in appointment letters and more details can be found
on our website www.uhbristol.nhs.uk
Andy Headdon, Strategic Development Programme Director, said:
"We realise that this will be inconvenient for some patients and
visitors but we are doing our best to keep disruption to a minimum
and are warning patients to take extra time for their journeys if
appropriate. Most of all we want to remind them of the benefits
that the new facilities will bring."
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