Major developments opening in 2021 at Northampton General Hospital to improve patient care

Main Entrance building works

Northampton General Hospital’s three major developments to improve care and patient and visitor experience are well under way with work on a new £15.9m critical and intensive care unit, designated children’s Emergency Department and new Main Entrance all due to open this year.

Following a bid to improve paediatric Emergency Department facilities at Northampton General Hospital, children needing urgent and emergency care will soon be receiving treatment in a new £2.9m facility.

The extension to the main Emergency Department building will include waiting areas and treatment rooms dedicated to children as well as staff breakout spaces.

Kerry Marriott, Emergency Department Paediatric Sister at Northampton General Hospital said: “This will be a huge benefit to the children and young people of Northamptonshire offering them and their families a safe, vibrant and child friendly environment in which to seek and receive help during times of illness or injury. This is something to look forward to and a morale boost for all staff after such a difficult year.

‘We are expanding to 11 rooms and 4 waiting areas, which includes a dedicated injuries assessment space, a safe area for patients presenting in mental health crisis, a high dependency bed and separate waiting area for adolescents."

Stuart Finn, Director of Estates and Facilities at Northampton General Hospital said: “I’m delighted to see how much progress has been made for all three new developments at NGH.

“Plans have been in place for a long time so it’s incredibly exciting to see the building work fully under way to improve care and experience for our patients, staff and visitors to be in use by the end of the year.”

The hospital has been working closely with Catfoss, a modular construction market leader, who are delivering the work for the three developments. Developers Noviniti were appointed to deliver the fully-funded new main entrance in partnership with Compass Group, who were awarded the contract for the retail and catering units.

Ben Foreman, Managing Director at Catfoss said: “We are delighted to be working with Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust to deliver this refurbishment and extension of the Paediatric ED which, is the first of three projects at NGH this year.

“This is a prime example of how modern methods of construction can be integrated with existing infrastructure to rapidly deliver fully compliant permanent space and we look forward to handing over this facility to the hospital before the end of spring.”

The hospital’s new entrance building work continues towards the final unveiling in the coming months. The new space, at the site’s South Entrance, will provide the hospital with a more welcoming reception area featuring Marks and Spencer Simply Food, Costa Coffee, Stock Shop and Subway.

You can view drone footage of the installation of the 24 modules that form the new Main Entrance here.

Andy Jones, Managing Director of Healthcare Retail at Compass Group said: ‘’We are delighted to be working in partnership with Northampton General Hospital and Noviniti to deliver a great new space and retail offer for the Trust.

“We are looking forward to opening the new Marks and Spencer, Costa and Subway stores, providing a great service and high-quality retail for patients, staff and visitors to enjoy.”

Jonathan Houlston, Chief Operating Officer, Noviniti said: “Our latest project for the NHS has been complex and challenging and we are really excited that the development is approaching its final stages.

“Construction is progressing well and we are delighted the new Main Entrance at Northampton General Hospital will be open in early summer 2021. It is going to provide a focal point for the Hospital with fantastic new facilities for staff, patients and visitors when it opens.”

You can view a walkthrough of what the new entrance will look like here.

The new £15.9m 16-bed critical care unit (including an eight-bedded Level 1 facility), is the third development to be completed and will provide extra capacity and improved facilities for patients needing specialist intensive care.

The new unit will be next to the new entrance building and will add much needed capacity to the ICU capability at Northampton Hospital.

Dr Jonny Wilkinson, ICU Clinical Lead Physician at Northampton General Hospital said: “There has been an extensive and painstaking amount of collaborative work to get this project right. All of this has continued relentlessly, despite the pressures the recent COVID pandemic has placed on our hospital and its staff.

The sickest patients in NGH deserve the best possible care and this new facility will provide this, as well as offering a state-of-the-art environment for our visitors and staff. We have incorporated a fusion of modernism, tranquillity, high-level technology and ideas from some of the top units in the UK and Europe, to make this a building to be truly proud of”.