Delayed NHS rehab facility set to open in August

A NHS rehabilitation centre which was due to open last year is set to welcome its first patients in August.

The £105m National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) at Stanford Hall in Nottinghamshire had been due to open on 11 November, but a failed water quality check meant the opening was delayed.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) said 183 mixer taps throughout the building needed to be replaced, the hot water system needed stabilising and a chlorine dioxide unit was installed to prevent future issues.

It added that building contractors were confident that once work has been completed and the water testing repeated the trust will be able to be given the keys to the building.

Testing carried out by contractors had found the pipes were not causing an issue, the trust said.

Once contractors hand the trust the keys to the centre, a four-week mobilisation period is due to take place to prepare the site to receive its first patients in August.

The 70-bed facility, near Loughborough, was created to help people recover from serious injuries and illnesses, and has been years in the making.

In the meantime the trust said patients continued to be treated at a specialist rehabilitation unit based at Nottingham City Hospital, and on a ward at Queen's Medical Centre, by the same staff who will be transferring over to the NRC.

Chief financial officer Paul Matthew said: "Whilst it is disappointing that we have not yet been able to accept the keys to the National Rehabilitation Centre from our building contractors, Integrated Health Projects (IHP), it is encouraging to see the progress being made to enable us to move in.

"It is important that the building is completed to the standard required for day one of our patients moving in so that we avoid any disruption to them during their rehabilitation journey.

"Our staff at NUH are ready to transfer over to the cutting-edge NRC building where they will continue to deliver life-changing rehabilitation for patients in the East Midlands and beyond, as well as helping to transform rehabilitation provision across the country."

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