news story

29th August 2008

250 Bed Shortfall Revealed for New Super-Hospital

An investigation by Northavon MP Steve Webb has found that the massive house-building programme planned for Bristol and South Gloucestershire will leave the proposed super-hospital at Southmead up to 250 beds short barely a decade after it opens.

The MP contacted North Bristol NHS Trust to ask what effect the new houses would have on demand for hospital beds over the coming years. The Trust has now written back, admitting that there will already be a bed shortfall when the new hospital opens in 2013, suggesting that this shortfall will be made up by private sector provision at Emersons Green.

But the Trust also admitted that it had previously made no projections for bed numbers once the new hospital opens. Based on figures supplied by the Trust, Steve Webb has calculated that rising population is likely to mean up to 250 extra beds will be needed to serve local people by 2026.

In response, the Trust claims that even more services will be moved into the community to cut bed demand, and also says that there is provision in the Southmead contract for expansion of the hospital and car park if needed.

Commenting on the letter, Steve Webb said:

“It is common sense that if tens of thousands of new homes are built in our area, we will need a lot more hospital beds. In particular, with a vast expansion of housing in South Gloucestershire, it is madness to be closing Frenchay, South Gloucestershire’s only major hospital.

"To add insult to injury, the proposed ‘super-hospital’ at Southmead will not be nearly large enough to cope with the demands of the vast increase in the local population. There is still time to re-think these short-sighted plans”.


The MP will be leading a debate in Parliament in October on the plans for massive house-building across the West of England and has pledged to challenge ministers during the debate over the lack of hospital capacity.


Notes:

a) In a letter to Steve Webb MP dated 8th August 2008, David Tappin, Director of Strategic Development at North Bristol NHS Trust says that the plans for local hospital services were based on a growth in demand of 1.2% a year up to 2013; he now estimates that if the planned housing numbers are delivered, annual growth will be 1.5% per year; this would leave the proposed super-hospital around 20 beds short when it opens in 2013; however, Mr. Tappin points out that the new ‘Independent Sector Treatment Centre” to be built at Emersons Green will have an extra 20 beds compared with the original plan; in other words, private sector beds will make up the shortfall;

b) the original plans for Frenchay/Southmead did not look at population growth beyond 2013; based on a 1.5% annual growth in demand between 2013 and 2026, bed demand will rise by around 21%; the ‘outline business case’ produced by North Bristol NHS Trust assumed total bed demand of 1230 in 2013, and 21% of this is 258 extra beds that will need to be found.