Refurbishment plans approved for Lutterworth's Feilding Palmer Hospital - but concerns raised over funding


The Integrated Care Board (ICB) for the local NHS in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) has approved plans to replace inpatient beds with increased outpatient services at the hospital at a recent meeting.
The approval follows a public consultation led by the local NHS, which secured support to transform the hospital, to provide diagnostics services and out-patient appointments, in lieu of the 10 inpatient beds.
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Hide AdThe aim is to provide ‘care closer to home’, reducing travel by more than 377,000 miles a year for local patients.
South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa, who has long campaigned for the transformation, said: “This is a key step towards Feilding Palmer becoming fit for the 21st century, as a hospital that can meet the needs of the residents of Lutterworth and the surrounding villages.
"These plans mean Feilding Palmer will be able to conduct around 17,000 outpatient and diagnostic appointments per year, reducing the burden of cost and travel on local residents.
"There is still much work to be done, and I will continue to work with local NHS bosses to ensure that work can get underway as soon as possible"
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Hide AdHowever, the Mary Guppy Group, which has been campaigning against the scrapping of inpatient beds, is concerned for the multi-million-pound project after the ICB revealed the original £5.8million funding capital is no longer available.
A spokesperson added: “We are very worried the project we have been offered may not be financed and so not happen. We know that our "Plan B" needs someone or a department above the region, part of the NHS executive level, so that provision avoids all the huge expenses for central NHS hospital beds. Finding this will be a key change for us but no joy yet.”
The group formed in 2016 and successfully campaigned against initial plans to close the hospital completely.
Since then, the group has come up with alternative plans for a separate centre to provide the ‘care closer to home’ initiative, claiming it would be a fraction of the refurbishment cost.
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Hide AdThe spokesperson added: “We had found an architect to design a 2024 building that would accommodate patients caught by delayed discharge for rehabilitation and convalescence but we cancelled the architect. The rooms would need to be suitable for patients who could be discharged, so the building cost would start at one 20th of the board’s original estimate, saving £1.8million annually and freeing 700 blocked beds a year.
“If this model worked in Lutterworth then it would be a model for the NHS nationally, saving £500million a year and delivering better than NHS quality.”
The group says it will be keeping a close eye on the project.
LLR ICB chief strategy officer Sarah Prema has assured the board would continue working to secure the funds.
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Hide AdShe said: “The LLR ICB is fully committed to the plan to develop Feilding Palmer Hospital, which has the full support of local clinicians, including those from local GP practices, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and University Hospitals of Leicester. The approval is exciting news for the local community in Lutterworth and the ICB will continue working with the system capital planning group to prioritise and secure the capital funding to bring the proposals into fruition.”