Hospital tower block revamp could take four years

Exernal refurbishment of the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital tower block has been completed

A refurbishment of a hospital tower block could take up to four years to complete, according to health bosses.

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital's 11 storey tower has undergone a facelift, but a review during these works found there is a need to upgrade the wards on each floor.

Each ward will have to be temporarily moved, which will allow contractors in for repair works, one floor at a time.

The tower was built with a lifespan of 30 years, and is now 50 years old, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Neurology services including the neurology ward, brain injury and neurotherapy will be moved from Gloucester to the Prescott ward at Cheltenham General Hospital until the work is complete.

Three wards will be combined for vascular and endocrine and general medical services as part of the refurbishment.

The move will be supported by a new programme to help around 35 patients who are medically fit to leave the hospital to be sent hone, or to a community hospital.

Chief operating officer at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Al Sheward, told a Gloucestershire Council meeting: "Our current plan is to replace some of the outdated fire infrastructure system in the Gloucester tower.

"Much of this learning came from the Grenfell Inquiry where we learnt an awful lot about how to manage and maintain safe multiple rise buildings.

"Within the tower, each ward will undergo upgrades. There are plans to improve infrastructure like the nurse call bell system, oxygen supply, fire detection and prevention systems."

'Like KerPlunk'

Mr Sheward said there will also be cosmetic work taking place to improve the "dated" wards.

"We then have a system of a rather like KerPlunk where we move the wards up and down the tower over the next three years until we've concluded all of the remedial works," he added.