Minister of State for Department of Health and Social Care visits Bassetlaw Hospital to find out about new £23m 'emergency village'

The visit was led by Richard Parker OBE, Chief Executive of the trust, and accompanied by Brendan Clarke-Smith, MP for Bassetlaw.

The Minister was given a tour of the hospital's current Assessment Treatment Centre (ATC) and paediatric wards which are due to be relocated into a new development. Hospital colleagues on both ATC and the Children's ward detailed the day-to-day challenges they face in their roles due to the infrastructure and original layout of the hospital.

Bassetlaw Hospital is currently undergoing major construction works to create a new 'emergency village' which will house several of the Trust's emergency services including a front-door triage service, a GP-staffed same-day health service and the two relocated departments (paediatrics and the Assessment Treatment Centre).

The development, which has received around £23million in investment, will help to streamline Bassetlaw's emergency services, update the hospital's infrastructure to meet the needs of Bassetlaw's growing population and ensure that round-the-clock care is available for children with appropriate and safe staffing. Having all of these service in one location on the hospital site is expected to improve flow through the emergency department and, ultimately, reduce length of stay and bed waits.

Following visits to ATC and the Children's ward, the Minister was invited to observe the current progress on construction of the emergency village.

Speaking about the visit, Richard Parker said: "I would like to thank Will Quince for his time today and welcomed his visit to observe the challenges we currently face at Bassetlaw Hospital. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated teams who strive to deliver quality patient care despite these challenges. We also welcomed the opportunity to show the Minister our progress on the new Emergency Village and talk through how this will help to improve emergency care for Bassetlaw residents."

Health Minister Will Quince said: "It was great to meet the team at Bassetlaw Hospital @DBH_NHSFT and visit the new Emergency Village site that will include 24/7 emergency paediatric care.

We’re taking immediate national action through the Urgent and Emergency Care plan to deliver 5,000 more hospital beds and 800 new ambulances.”