£100m children’s centre for North

Jun 24 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

PLANS to build one of the country’s largest dedicated children’s hospitals in the North have been unveiled.

Emmerdale’s Charlie Hardwick yesterday returned to her native Tyneside to unveil plans for an innovative £100m children’s hospital in Newcastle.

The Wallsend-born actress launched blueprints for a 245-bed complex which will make Newcastle the home to one of only 14 dedicated children’s hospitals in the country.

It is planned that the centre will be in the grounds of the existing Royal Victoria Infirmary, and will feature “clown doctors” and a 50-seat cinema.

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust said it expected the hospital to be fully completed by 2010.

Members of the public are also being invited to choose one of three names for the hospital – the Great North Children’s Hospital, the Greenhouse, or Northern Lights. And yesterday Mrs Hardwick pledged her support. She said: “I am so proud to launch this campaign and I am so pleased the North East and Cumbria will have access to such a wonderful facility dedicated to the care of sick children and their families.

“I have two nieces living in the region who are both nurses, with one working at the RVI, so it’s certainly something that is close to our hearts.

“It has taken a huge amount of hard work and pioneering efforts to get to this stage and the result will be a jewel in the crown for the North of England. I can’t wait to find out what the public choose as its name.”

As well as a rooftop penthouse for teenage cancer patients, the new complex will include specialist cancer care, dialysis suites and accommodation areas for families.

Prof Andrew Cant, clinical director for children’s services, said: “The new children’s hospital is a wonderful development for children and families from the North of England.

“For the first time, virtually all of children’s specialist medical services will be put together in a new centre with the latest equipment and technology.”

The RVI is currently one of the top five children’s medical centres in the UK.

And the new development will be the first time the region has seen all of the groundbreaking children’s services, staff and treatments under one roof.

Dr Mohammed Kibirige, the consultant paediatrician at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, said: “This is excellent news.

“We have finally agreed that children need to be seen in an environment designed for their specific needs.

“Clinicians in the North East have been baffled for a long time why we did not have such a hospital.

“The North East paediatric clinical network will be best served knowing that there is a single hospital dealing with children’s issues.”