Great Western Hospital’s expansion plan took a giant leap forward this week when the Swindon-based NHS Trust confirmed it has completed the purchase of 5.5 hectares of land from two housebuilders.

A deal with Persimmon Homes and Redrow Thames Valley has been done for the land which is adjacent to the hospital. The money for the purchase was made available in 2018 following a successful bid for £30m in government funding.

The acquisition forms part of the Trust’s ‘Way Forward Programme’, under which a series of hospital improvement projects are being taken forward. These will enable the relocation of non-acute services to the expansion land, which will facilitate Urgent and Emergency Care (U&EC) capacity expansion in the main hospital, and will include the development of an Integrated Rehabilitation Facility (IRF).

Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a really exciting step forward in our plans to expand and improve our healthcare services for the people of Swindon – securing this land is an investment in Swindon.  It is important not just for today but for future generations given a growing and aging population. 

“We want to use this land to develop health and care facilities on the Great Western Hospital site and now that we will secure the land, our attention and our work turns to securing funds to build and expand our services onto it.”

DEAL DONE: Julian Auckland-Lewis (left), Director of Way Forward Programme; Freya Pope, Senior Project Officer for Way Forward Programme and Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive

Gordon Isgrove, Principal at Avison Young, which advised the Trust on the purchase said: “The land has extant outline planning consent for hospital and healthcare uses, allowing Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to move forward with its ambitious expansion plans in line with the wider growth of Swindon. It has been a very positive and collaborative approach throughout the acquisition with both Persimmon and Redrow supporting this important project.”

The option to purchase the parcel of land was made available to the Trust as part of the developers’ 2011 planning application through Swindon Borough Council. The on-going mixed-use development on the remainder of the site comprises 890 dwellings, under construction by Persimmon and Redrow. 

Further developments will follow over the coming years, and could include a new out-patient and diagnostic facility and a ‘high-tech’ cancer centre which will also sit on the expansion land.

These exciting plans will follow the Radiotherapy Centre and new Urgent Treatment Centre developments – both of which are already under way.