Delivering our new hospitals – Building for better care
Delivering high-quality mental health care and treatment is fundamental to what we do as a Trust; we committed to develop three new hospitals in Guildford, Chertsey, and east Surrey because we want our inpatient services to provide the very best in mental health care. Our first hospital at Farnham Road Hospital, Guildford, opened in December 2015. Following its completion, our focus moved to building a new hospital on the former Abraham Cowley Unit (ACU) site on the St. Peter’s Hospital campus, Chertsey, and a third hospital to be built in the east of the county. Here we share the latest programme updates.
Construction of new northwest hospital underway
Construction of our new northwest Surrey mental health hospital, on the former Abraham Cowley Unit site, officially got underway on Monday 21 November.
An official ground-breaking ceremony marked the occasion with local dignitaries including the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux, the Mayor of Runnymede, Councillor Margaret Harnden, and Dr Ben Spencer MP for Runnymede and Weybridge in attendance. Representatives from our system partners including Surrey Heartlands and Surrey County Council joined, as well as NHS England.
Speaking at the event, Graham Wareham, Chief Executive for Surrey and Borders said, “Building a brand new hospital on this site has been part of the Trust’s strategic plan for many years, and it has taken considerable hard work, effort, and dedication from many people to reach this point.
“We want our inpatient services to provide the very best in mental health care for our local communities and building this new hospital will help us to achieve that. We are another step closer to achieving this today, and in spring 2024, we will open this much longed-for new hospital.”
Colleagues and people who use services sign ACU bricks to preserve history
To preserve a part of the ACU’s history, we have saved some of its bricks to build a planter which will be erected in
the new hospital’s grounds. Colleagues, people who received care at the ACU and their families and carers attended two events in September, where they were able to come along and sign a brick or dedicate one on someone’s behalf. Over 100 bricks were signed. The planter will be built so that the names are not visible to protect people’s identities.
Interior and exterior colour schemes chosen for new northwest hospital
The interior and exterior colour schemes for our new northwest hospital have now been chosen. Over the summer, we asked colleagues, partners, people who use services and those with lived experience, families, and carers to vote for their favourite exterior colour scheme from a shortlist of three options. The clear favourite portrays a complementary selection of chalk white, mid grey and coral colours with an eye catching aqua for the front entrance. It conveys a sense of calm and reassurance, is warm and welcoming, but it has a clear sense of purpose - that this is a place where people who are unwell will be helped to recover. Whilst we want the hospital to have its own identity, the palette tones in well with the existing buildings on St. Peter’s Hospital campus. For the internal colour scheme, workshops were held to gather views from people who use our services, people with lived experience and our staff.
The chosen concept has a strong focus on nature and the theme of flowing rivers, reminiscent of a journey to recovery. Neutral earthy tones and textures will be used throughout the building with layers of feature colour inspired by natural landscapes to provide individuality, variety, and interest. Our interior design strategy incorporates these concepts and focuses on holistic support, protection, and wellbeing to create an environment in which people feel safe and comfortable.
Engaging with people who use our services
We held our latest Lived Experience Group event for our northwest hospital on 1 November. In this session, we shared the outcome of research conducted on our behalf by Surrey Coalition of Disabled People to better understand what support people staying on our wards need, what’s working well and where we can make improvements. People told us that they want information given during admission to be clear, free of jargon and in a variety of accessible formats, someone to welcome people when they are admitted to the ward, show them around and help settle in, and more activities. At the event, we also shared the interior design strategy and answered their questions.
Our next Lived Experience Group meeting is scheduled for Thursday 2 February 2023, 9:30- 11:30am. Information about future meetings and previous presentations are available on the Trust’s website.
Obsolete furniture from the ACU helps transform mental health care for Zimbabwe hospital
Six 40-foot shipping containers of furniture and equipment from the former ACU are helping to transform mental health care at Ngomahuru Hospital in south-eastern Zimbabwe.
When the ACU closed in May this year, most of its furniture and equipment was unsuitable for use elsewhere in the Trust, but it was in too good a condition to send to landfill. Through the Zimbabwean Midwifery and Nurses Association UK (ZiMNA UK), we discovered that Ngomahuru Hospital was struggling to provide mental health care and treatment with outdated and deteriorating equipment.
ZiMNA UK contacted the hospital to see if they could use the redundant supplies, and they jumped at the offer, saving almost 350 cubic metres of equipment going to landfill.
Once the containers safely arrived, ZiMNA UK asked Emma Bilson, Programme Director and Tham Dewa, Associate Director for the programme to visit the hospital and formally present the donation on the trust’s behalf.
On 31 October 2022, the hospital hosted a ceremony with representatives from ZiMNA UK, the Zimbabwe Life Project
and the Minister of State for Masvingo province. Tham shared: "It was clear how the Trust’s donations have helped to transform areas of the hospital. One of the wards had no beds in it at all; now there are beds for people to sleep in. It really opened my eyes to what our NHS facilities are like in the UK and how much we have in comparison."
Plans for our new hospital in east Surrey
For our final hospital to be built in east Surrey, we have agreed the proposed bed numbers, and in early 2023 we are holding a workshop to look at the scheme options which will inform the Strategic Outline Case. The Strategic Outline Case provides a preliminary assessment of strategic fit, options, value for money, affordability, and achievability.
Contact us
If you have any questions, you would like more information or to sign up for an event, please get in touch. You can contact the team at: newhospitals@sabp.nhs.uk.