Calderdale Royal Hospital: Work on new multistorey car park for Halifax's hospital will start in September

While a new learning and development centre and the car park are built at Halifax hospital, planning for new wards, an accident and emergency department and specialist paediatric emergency department will be developed in parallel, say health chiefs.

The details were revealed as part of a progress update for Calderdale and Kirklees Joint Health Overview Scrutiny Committee, which was set up as a watchdog over ongoing reconfiguration of hospital services in the two areas.

Director of Transformation and Partnerships at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Anna Basford, said work at Calderdale Royal – which includes 10 extra wards as well as on the A&E and paediatric emergency units – should start in September.

“Construction is ready to commence with necessary planning approvals in place from this autumn,” she said.

“The first of those works will be key enabling works relating to the new learning and development centre and the new multistorey car park, which are essential undertakings prior to the clinical build at the rear of the hospital.”

She said management plans for inevitable disruption would need to be put in place to ensure the hospital could still be accessed by patients and staff.

She also said the work on the new accident and emergency unit at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary was nearing completion and was on schedule to open in September.

Commitee co-chairs, Coun Colin Hutchinson (Calderdale, Lab, Skircoat) and Coun Liz Smaje (Kirklees, Con, Birstall and Birkenshaw) , and Coun Andrew Cooper (Kirklees, Green, Newsome) all asked questions about finances, including impact on services and whether or not rising construction inflation had been taken into account.

Stuart Baron, of Calderdale and Huddersfield Solutions, said they had been tested in review and remained in line with expectations, but would be retested again when the full business case for the plans was readied.

Ms Basford said construction for the wards and other units would take place in parallel. Once the learning unit and car park are built, parking elsewhere can be moved, enabling the clinical build to start.

That was expected to take around two and a half years, she said.