Public given first look at Â£450m plan for new hospitals in Leeds

Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn visits the public drop-in session for Hospitals of the Future development at the Electric Press in Millennium Square. People will be able to look at Â£450m plans to build two state-of-the-art hospital buildings in Leeds for the first time this week. Pictured with clinical director Michael Richards and head of nursing Anne Stanton.
9th November 2018. — Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn visits the public drop-in session for Hospitals of the Future development at the Electric Press in Millennium Square. People will be able to look at Â£450m plans to build two state-of-the-art hospital buildings in Leeds for the first time this week. Pictured with clinical director Michael Richards and head of nursing Anne Stanton. 9th November 2018.

Residents were offered a first glimpse of Â£450m plans to build two state-of-the-art hospital buildings in Leeds.

As previously reported by the YEP, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has submitted a pre-application to create a new children’s hospital and adult site that will “transform hospital care” in Leeds.

And yesterday, the trust held its inaugural public drop-in session, inviting people to see the plans and speak to the team behind them, at the Carriageworks in Millennium Square.

It marked the first time people had seen the ambitious proposals in the flesh since they were revealed last month.

An impression of what the exterior of the new Leeds Children's Hospital could look like.

Julian Hartley, Chief Executive, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“It’s great to see so much interest from local people in our plans for Leeds General Infirmary (LGI).

“We have so much support from the local community and we are keen to get their input into shaping these plans at this early stage.”

More than 40 people passed through the doors at the drop-in session to see the plans on show yesterday.

High-profile attendees included Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, who has backed the proposals.

He said: “I was very excited to see the development plans for Leeds General Infirmary at first-hand [on Friday] at their first drop-in session.

“This is a fantastic vision, and talking to staff and those members of the public who were there, it is clear that the plans for two new hospitals at the LGI – one for adults and a new Leeds Children’s Hospital – will create hospitals that the people of Leeds, and the wider region, deserve.

“They will also reflect the excellent services and care provided from our local hospitals, and particularly the advances in technology and innovation that our staff are becoming known for.“

The NHS Trust presented a pre-application plan to the council for a new “world-class” children’s hospital site opposite Millennium Square at the end of October.

A second, adult facility, with a theatre suite focusing on day cases, joined onto the LGI’s Jubilee Wing, in the city centre, has also been proposed.

The new Leeds Children’s Hospital site, to be built next to the LGI’s Brotherton Wing, will bring together staff from the city’s current children’s hospital - now split between the Clarendon and Martin wings - for the first time with purpose-built facilities for young people.

The masterplan has been drawn up as part of the local authority’s new Innovation District vision for the city centre.

Council bosses have said that the proposed new district aims to boost links between the hospital, universities and the council, to put Leeds at the “forefront of research, learning and health innovation” in the UK.