DCH development plans are backed

Outline plans to develop Dorset County Hospital, including the construction of a new emergency department and critical care unit, have been approved by Dorset Council.

The hospital trust’s Your Future Hospital programme sets out plans to expand on-site facilities at the Dorchester hospital in a bid to ‘help meet increasing demand’. The early stage plans approved by the council include building a new emergency department and critical care unit on the site of the former Damers First School. They also account for the trust’s ‘longer-term aim’ to improve the hospital’s main entrance, provide integrated care and offer key worker housing for staff.

The county hospital’s plans are part of the government’s ‘new hospital programme’ that aims to see 40 new hospitals built throughout the country by 2030. Dorset County Hospital’s interim chief executive Nick Johnson said: “This is an exciting milestone for DCH and brings us a step closer to expanding our site, including building a brand-new emergency department and critical care unit. Our hospital is busier than ever, so investment is vital to allow us to provide the highest standards of care for many years to come.

“The new emergency department and critical care unit will have a dedicated children’s area, an enhanced recovery service and a mental health suite. We will have more beds and the facilities we need to care for our sickest patients. It will also allow us to repurpose the existing

It’s your ’hood, it’s your say

Villagers in Portesham, Abbotsbury, Langton

Herring and Fleet can have their say on future development plans by contributing to the Chesil Bank Neighbourhood Plan. The plan has been drawn up by locals and agreed by the group parish council who ‘feel confident’ it reflects the ‘hopes and views of the local community’. People who live, work in or run a business in the Chesil Bank neighbourhood have until Friday, March 3 to comment on the plan, which can be viewed online at dorsetcouncil. gov.uk/chesil-bankneighbourhood-plan and on the Vision4Chesil website. A hard copy of the Neighbourhood Plan can also be viewed at Chickerell Library and the council offices in Dorchester. spaces to help meet the rising demand for other inpatient services.”

The hospital trust will now prepare detailed designs and submit them to Dorset Council for approval. The new emergency department and critical care unit will be the first major scheme to go before county planners, subject to a ‘full business case’ being approved by the Government. If full planning permission is granted, the former Damers School building will be demolished next spring, allowing groundworks to be completed before construction begins.