Liverpool Women's Hospital: Bid for government funding for £200m facility

The bid suggests building a new Liverpool Women's Hospital connected to a major acute hospital

A specialist women's hospital in Liverpool has asked the government to help fund a new £200m building.

Liverpool Women's Hospital Trust has argued that relocating its maternity services closer to a major acute hospital would improve patient safety.

It proposed a new facility linked by a footbridge to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital or Aintree Hospital - a move it has been recommending for six years.

The government asked for expressions of interest for eight new hospitals.

It followed an earlier announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) of £3.7bn funding for 40 hospitals.

'Isolated location'

The hospital, which provides maternity, gynaecology, reproductive, genetic and neo-natal services, opened in 1995.

A report to the trust's board said the hospital's "current isolated location", on Crown Street, Toxteth, has led to "longstanding clinical safety and sustainability issues".

The trust said the hospital "does not have critical care facilities and lacks rapid access to other specialist surgical and medical services in case of urgent need".

It also said other acute hospitals lack access to onsite gynaecology and maternity services for example to help "pregnant women admitted to major trauma services or ITU due to COVID-19".

The change would bring annual revenue savings of approximately £3m per year, the trust's report said.

Campaigners have previously protested against plans for relocation.

The trust has said the existing site would be repurposed "for use by the wider health and care system".

Trust chief executive, Kathryn Thomson, said relocating "is the only way to completely remove all of the clinical risks of being located on an isolated site".

She added: "Regardless of any proposed plans for the future - which would need to go through a public consultation process - we will be at our current location on Crown Street for a number of years which is why we are continuing to develop and invest in our current hospital site."

The successful schemes are due to be decided by Spring 2022 with the new hospitals built by 2030, the DHSC said.