IN JUST two weeks Ipswich Hospital should know whether a £25million bid to overhaul their critical care unit has been successful.As the Evening Star revealed in September, bosses at the NHS Trust put in a bid for the multi-million pound venture to provide a new critical care unit as well as a four-storey diagnostic centre and community diagnostic centres.
By JESSICA NICHOLLS
health reporter
jessica.nicholls@eveningstar.co.uk
IN JUST two weeks Ipswich Hospital should know whether a £25million bid to overhaul its critical care unit has been successful.
As The Evening Star revealed in September, bosses at the NHS Trust put in a bid for the multi-million pound venture to provide a new critical care unit as well as a four-storey diagnostic centre and community diagnostic centre.
The surprise bid came just four months after we revealed insider concerns from top doctors that the busy intensive care unit could close.
On November 14, Hospital chiefs will meet with the Strategic Health Authority in Cambridge to discuss the proposal and find out if it has been successful. A spokeswoman from the hospital confirmed that the decision should be made on the day.
However even if the bid is given the go-ahead it could be three years before the scheme is up and running. At the moment the current intensive care unit has only half the space it should have around the beds where people lie, fighting for their lives.
If the bid was approved and the new unit built it should enable the hospital to meet 12 national targets including waits of fewer than three months for day surgery.
The current intensive care unit and its equipment was described by the then acting chief executive, Chris Dooley, as "too small and outdated".
He added that over the years more and more people were being admitted and the capacity in the critical care unit was getting tight.
But he was confident that there was a lot of support surrounding the bid and the Strategic Health Authority was already aware of the need to develop critical care services at the hospital.
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