ground-breaking ceremony marks official start of development of low-secure facility
A ground-breaking ceremony has been held to mark the beginning of construction work to create a new 40-bed specialist low-secure hospital in Merseyside.
VINCI's IHP team, a joint venture between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine, has officially broken ground at the site located in the Maghull Health Park.
Commissioned by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, the £33m hospital will be built on approximately 6.5 acres of land to the east of Villas Road following approvals from Sefton Council’s planning committee and the Department of Health and Social Care.
Mersey Care’s chief executive, Professor Joe Rafferty CBE, said: “We are delighted to have started work on this new chapter of learning disability care.
“It builds on a long tradition of hospitals providing specialist care in the Maghull area and is another part of our development of Maghull Health Park as a centre of excellence.
“This new hospital has been designed with great precision and care. It will look beautiful and will include low-carbon features and be energy efficient.
“Essentially, though, it will provide support for people across the region requiring complex care in a therapeutic low-secure setting to the very-highest standards that they deserve and need.”
NHS England regional medical director for commissioning, Dr Michael Gregory, added: “We want to see this site supporting vulnerable people through services and back into their own communities and I look forward to seeing work here progress.”
Designed by Gilling Dod Architects, the building is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023 and it will cater for men and women with a diagnosis of learning disability, autism, and comorbid conditions, with each patient having their own bedroom with en-suite bathroom, plus a range of activity areas and therapeutic spaces.
