Hellesdon Hospital revamp moves forward after £50m boost

The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has been boosted by the award of the eight-figure sum for its Rivers Centre project.

The development will see three new wards added to Hellesdon Hospital along with the refurbishment of two existing wards.

The project will increase the mental health hospital's bed capacity by 15 and reduce the trust's reliance on out-of-area placements.

This is one of the factors which has seen the struggling organisation come under heavy criticism in recent years.

The development is set to cost almost £50m in total, with NSFT investing £11.7m from its own budget on top of the £38m government contribution.

This figure makes it the largest individual investment the trust has made in its history.

Stuart Richardson, chief executive of NSFT, said: "We are delighted to have secured almost £50m capital investment to develop three new state-of-the-art wards and refurbish two existing wards at the Rivers Centre, Hellesdon Hospital.

"It is the single largest capital investment ever to improve facilities at the trust and will significantly improve the experience of those who need us, their families and carers, and our staff.

"This is another significant sign of progress as we continue to improve and work towards delivering consistently safe, high quality and excellent care.

"We look forward to welcoming patients and staff to this new facility when it opens in the summer of 2024."

The project will also include a central hub, a café area for visitors and improvements made to natural lighting of existing buildings.

But it is a scaled-back version of original plans, which originally sought to add five new ward buildings instead of three.

It has also been criticised by campaigners, who have said it is too small scale to meet to growing needs for mental health care locally.