'White elephant' fears over new hospital site

It has been suggested the Royal Berkshire Hospital could be moved to a new location in Reading

A new Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading risks becoming a "white elephant" that will not be fit for purpose in 30 years time, a regional health boss has said.

John Ashton, interim director for public health for Berkshire West, said he was worried that the discussion was about replacing the hospital.

He said instead it should be about having a deeper conversation about what type of health system would be needed in future decades.

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said its current site was challenging and has potential planning issues that could make it costlier to build on.

During a recent Health and Wellbeing Board meeting, Mr Ashton said he was "not alone" in his concerns.

"What we have is a scenario of replacing a hospital - we should be considering lots of scenarios," he said.

"If we invest heavily in prevention and primary care facilities in the community over the next 15 years… what size hospital will we actually need?

"We don't know half of what is coming down the track with medical advances."

He said in other parts of the country there was growing interest in "health spaces" where department stores are being re-provisioned as part of health services in more accessible town centres.

"We need to keep an open mind to what is needed for West Berkshire otherwise there will be a white elephant created that won't be fit for purpose in 20 or 30 years time," he added.

Alison Foster, of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, said "Part of the strategy is to ask what kind of facilities does the new hospital need to contain and what we can position closer to where people are."

An impact assessment is now under way to find out what impact the hospital being on a new site would mean for staff, patients and communities.

The schedule for building the new hospital has recently been put back to 2031 and health authorities are waiting to for confirmation of the final budget.