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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Will any services that are currently provided in
regional centres be provided locally?
What will happen to the Memorial Wing, will the
World War I memorial be preserved?
What will happen to the vacated hospital site?
What will the new hospital be called?
Who decides on which site the new hospital will be
located?
Why is ECH preferred when the PDH option costs less
to run?
What does the private sector get out of providing the
money to build the hospital?
Will you apply 'best value' practices to the PFI
contract?
If the vacated hospital site is sold, who gets the
money?
How much influence will Fenland PCT have in the
outcome of the consultation?
Where are trained nursing staff going to live, will
the hospital provide accommodation?
Will there be a stroke rehabilitation unit?
What is the Woman & Child Unit ?
Why so many single rooms?
Are potential staff dissuaded from working at PHT
because it is not a teaching hospital?
Will any services that are currently provided
in regional centres be provided locally?
We are working with the West Anglian Cancer Network to determine
which cancer services currently provided at regional centres such as
Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, could be provided in Peterborough.
Initial discussions have focused on the possibility of providing two
Linear Accelerators in the new hospital. This would eliminate the need
for patients with serious cancer problems the need to travel several
time a week over 40 miles to Cambridge for their treatment. Similarly
some cardiac treatments currently undertaken at Papworth could come to
Peterborough
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What will happen to the Memorial Wing and will
the World War I memorial be preserved?
The Memorial Wing is designated a 'building of local historic
interest' and as such we must ensure it is preserved or sensitively
incorporated into any developments on the site. We will work with the
City Council to ensure the memorial has a safe future.
What will happen to the vacated hospital site?
Whichever site is vacated will probably be partly or wholly sold
for redevelopment. The local planning authority, Peterborough City
Council, will determine the future use of the site, based on local
planning guidance.
What will the new hospital be called?
No decision has been taken on the name of the new hospital or how
the name would be chosen.
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Who decides on which site the new hospital
will be located?
The two local Primary Care Trusts and the Hospital Trust will make
a joint recommendation to the Strategic Health Authority for Norfolk,
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire based on their
preferred choice. The Strategic Health Authority will consider the evidence
supporting the choice and the results of the public consultation
exercise. They will then decide whether to approve or reject the
recommended choice.
Why is ECH preferred when the PDH option costs
less to run?
The estimated costs in the strategic outline case approved in
February 2001 were based on an initial set of assumptions and ideas
about the probable design and cost of the redeveloped and expanded
hospital buildings required to fit all our services on each site. We
are currently developing these ideas in much more detail and have
already identified several factors that mean the costs for the PDH
option are understated. When the review is complete we expect the PDH
option will be more costly than the ECH option.
However, cost is not the only factor we must consider when making
a choice. The quality of the building, clinical safety and the
flexibility of the design are all-important and may outweigh the cost
of either option.
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What does the private sector get out of
providing the money to build the hospital?
Under a publicly funded scheme the contractor would make a profit
from constructing the building and service companies would make a
profit by maintaining the building fabric, the heating boilers and
other plant and services.
In a PFI project, the private sector does both of these and also
provides the money required to fund the construction of the building
and will expect to profit from this additional investment. However the
overall cost to the Health Service, taking into account the risks that
the private sector and the NHS will bear, must be less than the cost of
funding the building from public funds. If it is not less, the project
will not be approved.
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Will you apply 'best value' practices to the
PFI contract?
The NHS does not have a direct equivalent to local authority
initiative of 'best value'. However, there are several processes built
into the PFI process that ensures the NHS gets good value for money
and the private sector cannot make excessive profits.
The services provided by the private sector must be tested on a
regular basis to ensure the NHS is not paying over the market rate. If
the cost of a service is above the market rate it must be reduced.
In addition, if the private sector is able to renegotiate the
terms under which it borrowed the money for the building, the NHS must
benefit from any reduction in cost.
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If the vacated hospital site is sold, who gets
the money?
As a three star trust, the hospital can keep 10% of any income
from the sale of the land. The remainder goes back to the NHS. If the
vacated site is incorporated into the private finance deal, the full
value of the site could be used to partly offset the cost of the
project.
How much influence will Fenland PCT have in
the outcome of the consultation?
Only a small part of Fenland PCT's expenditure is included in the
Health Investment Plan. The majority of Fenland patients go either to
Hinchinbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Kings Lynn, or Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. Fenland PCT is
considering the development of a Health Care Centre in the March area.
The majority of the cost of this facility would come from PCT funds
that are outside the Health Investment Plan. Therefore any decision on
the local Health Care Centre is entirely in the control of Fenland
PCT.
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Where are trained nursing staff going to live?
Will the hospital provide accommodation?
The NHS does provide limited accommodation for new recruits, but
the local housing market and availability of private rented
accommodation mean most staff prefer to make their own accommodation
arrangements.
The NHS will continue to offer short-term accommodation for
qualified staff, and will explore ways in which this can be expanded
if it becomes essential for future staffing requirements.
Will there be a stroke rehabilitation unit?
Although the hospital currently has a Stroke Unit, the lack of
space in the PDH tower block means we cannot provide a dedicated
stroke rehabilitation unit. The new hospital will provide the
opportunity to develop this important service and fully integrate it
with the Stroke Unit.
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What is the Woman & Child Unit? I
have a problem with the gynaecology area, with endometriosis a lot of
women cannot get pregnant. It is a bit insensitive if they are to be
close to maternity patients.
Maternity, SCBU, children's' outpatients and wards, children's
A&E will all be together in one unit. In the Women's Unit,
obstetrics and gynaecology patients can be housed together and breast
cancer patients can be cared and counselled in one area.
Infertility services and termination of pregnancy patients are
also to be considered in this. The unit reflects where the clinical
services are sited but segregation will occur to account for the
sensitive issues around some of these services.
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Why so many single rooms? They are not always
a good idea for patients, some patients do not like isolation and
improve more quickly in a larger bedded area.
Views have been expressed both in favour of single rooms and by
patients who prefer to be cared for with other patients. NHS
guidelines require us to produce a plan providing up to 50% single
rooms. This will give more flexibility over gender separation and help
with the care of very ill patients.
Are potential staff dissuaded from working at
Peterborough Hospital because it is not a teaching hospital?
Peterborough Hospitals Trust is slowly becoming a teaching
hospital. We supply teaching services to Cambridge and Leicester and
can now be described as an associated hospital of the Leicester
Warwick Medical School. We do not have a problem in attracting good
quality and highly qualified consultants because many do not wish to
work in a teaching hospital.
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