New wards as Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge faces ‘significant winter pressures’ alongside Covid-19
Two new wards with a total of 32 beds have opened at Addenbrooke’s Hospital as part of a large-scale development to increase capacity.
Wards P2 and Q2 are two of five new wards to be built under plans to add 116 beds in total to the Addenbrooke’s site.
The wards are located opposite the Rosie Hospital and are being staffed by the team from T2, the first new ward opened in June as part of the expansion plans.
This means T2 has closed for now but the extra beds on P2 and Q2 will result in capacity increasing overall by 13 beds.
This additional capacity comes as Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (CUH) faces significant winter pressures alongside the Covid pandemic.
The first patients to be looked after in P2 and Q2 are all medically fit for discharge but need some form of community support in place before leaving hospital.
Senior sister Bethany Self leads the nursing team on the new wards.
“Creating more space to care for patients who will soon be discharged means more beds in the main hospital for people who need more complex and urgent treatment. It’s all about the flow of patients through the hospital and meeting the huge demand we currently have for emergency admissions,” she said.
Dr Ewen Cameron, chief operating officer and consultant gastroenterologist at CUH said: “There is no doubt we are under intense pressure this winter, with emergency patients coming through A&E, while we also treat Covid patients and do our very best to reduce waiting lists for planned surgery, delayed by the pandemic.
“These two new wards will make a significant difference.”
A further two wards with a total of 56 beds are being built on a site beside T2. This will have a basement level, linking to the hospital’s underground corridor system, giving quick access to key departments across the Addenbrooke’s site. This is expected to open in summer 2022.
At the same time, CUH has a recruitment drive under way. By the end of March next year, some 583 new staff will have joined the trust across adult care, midwifery and paediatrics. In the next financial year the trust is looking to recruit 615 nurses.
Read more:
