Cossham Memorial Hospital in Kingswood re-opened its doors to patients on Monday January 28 after an extensive £19 million refurbishment by NHS South Gloucestershire.
The building has new, modern and fully accessible facilities from which the NHS will deliver double the amount of outpatient appointments. This means that many local people will no longer have travel to an acute hospital to see their consultant.
The refurbishment has kept many original features from the building which first opened in 1907.
Key new departments include the area’s first stand-alone, midwife-led birth centre and a brand-new renal dialysis unit - which opened to patients in October 2012.
The hospital will also have enhanced x-ray, ultrasound, MRI and CT scanning facilities and will be able to offer twice as many physiotherapy appointments than before.
Dr Stephen Illingworth, interim Chair of the South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, which takes over the role of NHS South Gloucestershire in April 2013, said: “The reopening of Cossham Hosptial will be a fantastic boost for local people who can now access a wide range of outpatient and diagnostic services on their doorstep.
“Cossham will now deliver twice as many outpatient appointments, diagnostic and therapy services as before, in a facility that has preserved the best of the old beautiful building whilst creating modern facilities inside.
“We would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to create this wonderful facility, especially the members of the public who have given their energy, time and enthusiasm.”
North Bristol NHS Trust will run the services from Cossham. Sasha Karakusevic, the Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “One of the main aims of refurbishing Cossham Hospital was to provide healthcare closer to people’s homes.
“The new facilities are fresh, modern and welcoming. Feedback from patients who have already been using the dialysis unit has been fantastic and we’re confident that local people, who hold the hospital very close to their hearts, will be equally appreciative.”
The Cossham DIalysis Unit has the capacity to provide care for 96 patients, with 24 dialysis stations.
These new facilities also include a dedicated area to supporting patients who wish to perform their own dialysis within the unit and provide a training area for patients who plan to dialyse in their own homes.
The location of the unit also means that the amount of travelling time for patients presently attending for treatment at dialysis units and renal outpatients on the Southmead Hospital site and Knowle West Health Park will be significantly reduced.
Cossham Birth Centre will be the first free-standing birth centre in the area, offering an alternative to home or the traditional hospital based birth setting.
North Bristol NHS Trust has been taking bookings from healthy women with a straightforward pregnancy in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset who would like to give birth at Cossham Birth Centre.
The birth centre is led by an experienced team of NHS midwives employed by North Bristol NHS Trust and promotes natural childbirth.
The refurbishment of Cossham Hospital followed detailed consultation with local people and the NHS to look at the healthcare needs of the population in Kingswood and East Bristol. Half of the members of the original Project Board came from outside the NHS, ensuring that it reflected a wide range of views.
Roy Tippett, Chairman of the Cossham Hospital League of Friends, said: “Handel Cossham’s will provided a hospital for the ‘treatment and relief of sick and injured persons of both sexes’.
“The hospital and its staff have certainly carried out this wish and created a welcoming atmosphere which aids the healing process. Cossham Memorial Hospital still looks the same from the outside but is now a modern hospital on the inside. I’m sure Handel will have given his full approval.”