Bristol Community Dental Service to Transfer to New Hospital
After 60 years of campaigning for a new hospital for south Bristol, residents are celebrating the news that the South Bristol Community Hospital will open within the next two months.
The new building has recently been handed over to NHS Bristol and staff will be working to move furniture and get everything ready for patients over the course of the next six weeks.
The hospital is due to open in 44 days, with the urgent care unit scheduled to open on the 30th March and patients from the General Hospital will move in mid-April. The community dental service will also move from the Bristol Dental Hospital and by the end of April, the day surgery will also be up and running.
The new hospital will provide a range of health services, from emergency care to dentistry, for around 155,000 residents in the area. Local people have been trying to encourage the government to open a hospital on the south side of the city since the NHS was first established and two years ago plans for the community hospital were finally given the green light.
Gemma Collings, South Bristol Community Hospital implementation manager, will be in charge of some of the services offered at the hospital. She said that work is underway to furnish the buildings and add the finishing touches now that construction work has been completed.
The hospital has been developed by Bristol Infracare Lift, which is a public and private partnership. Chief executive, Mark Nebel, said that changes have had to be made to the hospital as a result of changing times, but the project has been exciting and rewarding.
Ben Bennett, programme director for NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, said that the new hospital is an amazing addition to the area. He has been involved in the project for the last ten years and is delighted to see the building complete and a scheduled opening date in the very near future.
Join this Discussion
