A NEW multimillion-pound hospital building has opened and admitted the first patients have been admitted to a ward designed to provide care for the elderly.
Imber Ward, which is housed in the Elizabeth building at Salisbury District Hospital, opened for the first time on June 18.
This new £14m building, named in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II, provides 24 additional beds, incorporating a mixture of four-bed bays and side rooms.
The building was meant to open in Spring but there were delays as workers had problems installing electricity into the building.
Imber Ward underpins the hospital’s elective recovery programme and the extra beds mean elderly care patients can be cared for in a dedicated space. This allows the hospital’s surgical beds to be better utilised to deliver much-needed elective care such as day surgery.
It is an environmentally sustainable building, built with solar panels, low-carbon concrete, and heat pumps, so there is no fossil fuel used. There is also thermal insultation.
Lisa Thomas, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust Interim CEO, said: ”We are very pleased to have built and opened our new ward, which provides elderly care in a state-of-the-art modern environment.
"Importantly, the new ward supports the Trust’s elective recovery programme, and marks a major milestone in our efforts to deliver the very best compassionate, effective care to our community, while improving our sustainability."
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The equipping and furnishing of the new ward has been supported by the Stars Appeal, Salisbury District Hospital’s Charity.
The charity provided £600k for equipment, including the latest patient monitoring system, furnishings and artwork to create a state-of-the-art, dementia-friendly space with an enhanced environment benefiting patients, their families and staff.
Much of the Stars Appeal funding has been made possible thanks to the legacy gifts of those who remembered the charity in their wills. Supporters of the charity were recently invited to a special private view of the ward prior to it opening to patients.
President of the Stars Appeal, the Earl of Pembroke, said: “Imber Ward is another fantastic example of the difference that the Stars Appeal makes at Salisbury District Hospital, which is only possible thanks to donations, fundraising and, especially with this project, those who so kindly remember the charity in their Wills.
"I thank everyone who supports the Stars Appeal for their generosity in making projects like this possible.”
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