Your chance to find out more about plans for a new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn

In her monthly Ward Round column, QEH chief executive officer Alice Webster discusses plans for the new hospital...

Myself and members of our dedicated new hospital programme team will be hitting the road this month to find out what matters most to you in your new hospital as we host a series of engagement events across West Norfolk.

We’re inviting you to come along to keep up to date on the large scale of work and planning taking place to bring a new state-of-the-art Queen Elizabeth Hospital to our community by 2030.

The sessions are taking place from 6pm-7.30pm on:

• Monday, August 21 – Knights Hill Hotel, Lynn;
• Wednesday, August 23 – Oasis Community Centre, Wisbech;
• Wednesday, August 30 – Princess Theatre, Hunstanton;
• Thursday, August 31 – Downham Town Hall.

These events will be a chance for you to tell us what matters most to you about your new hospital – whether that’s in terms of the physical building or the care services provided.

In return we’ll keep you up to date about how we are working hard, using the latest data and population to form a full business case setting out the size and scale of a new hospital – considering how the population will grow as well as any health trends and new models of care.

We’ll also update you on green matters, talking about methods of construction that will mean the building will be carbon neutral, sustainable and have the longevity to serve generations to come as well as details about enabling work required such as the new multi-storey car park.

We have a long road ahead of us to make plans for our new hospital a reality, but I want to ensure that you – our patients, residents and business who supported us so strongly in our campaign for a new hospital – feel absolutely informed about that journey.

We can’t be specific at this stage about the details – like bed numbers and all the services we will offer. That will come. But we do want to hear what matters to you about your new hospital. It might not be something we can deliver, but there will be some things we can do. So please come along, tell us what you’d like to see and find out more – full details at www.newqeh.org.uk.

In other news, last week we received a visit from Lord Nick Markham CBE, Minister for the Lords and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, along with NHS England chair Richard Meddings to meet with staff, patients and local partners to discuss the New Hospital Programme.

It was a pleasure to welcome them to the QEH, to tour the site and show them the challenges we are facing as well as showcasing the amazing team we have here. We had several productive and informative roundtable sessions where we all had the chance to experience a taste of Hospital 2.0, which is the standardised design and construction for all new hospitals to deliver with greater efficiency and reduced cost.

It’s an exciting time here at Team QEH and this visit certainly made us feel like we’re taking big steps forward to making our new hospital a reality.

If you’re unable to attend our in-person session you can keep fully up to date on news on our website www.newqeh.org.uk or email any questions to newhospital@qehkl.nhs.uk.

Thank all of you for your continued support, it really does make a difference.