Government approves £105m Stanford Hall NHS rehabilitation centre

The 70-bed unit will be staffed by experts from across the country

A specialist new £105m NHS rehabilitation facility has been given government approval.

The National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) will be built at Stanford Hall in Nottinghamshire and will help people recovering from serious injury and illness.

The approval means building work can now start on the 70-bed facility which is due to open in 2025.

The NHS said the centre will "transform" patients' recovery.

The NRC will be built on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate, near Loughborough, which is already home to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.

It will be run by Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.

The civilian centre will take lessons from the nearby military facility

The NRC said the centre would focus on preventative pre-rehabilitation, immediate acute rehabilitation and chronic and long-term rehabilitation using the latest medical technology.

Health officials said the centre will be a regional, national and international facility.

It will primarily treat patients from the East Midlands region, replacing and upgrading existing services in Nottingham while establishing a blueprint for the roll-out of a regional model across the country for teaching and research, officials said.

The centre will use and develop new technologies in partnership with University of Nottingham and Loughborough University.

The facility now has government approval which means work on the site can now start

Miriam Duffy, NRC programme director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "The centre will transform how we provide clinical rehabilitation in this country.

"This long overdue centre will push the boundaries of rehabilitation for the next generation and bring real impact in terms of helping people to realise their full potential following injury or illness."

The new unit forms part of the government's New Hospital Programme (NHP).

Health minister Lord Markham added: "The new 70-bed National Rehabilitation Centre will bring the latest research and training into clinical settings, not only helping people recover and live more independently after serious injury or illness but also freeing up clinician time so they can continue to cut waiting lists."