Ground Breaking marks official start of North View – Manchester’s new £105 million mental health unit
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust has officially begun the construction of its new state-of-the-art mental health inpatient unit on the North Manchester General Hospital site.
A ‘ground breaking’ ceremony on Thursday 24 November 2022 marked the start of building works for North View and marked a key milestone in the Trust’s ambition to transform adult mental health care across North and Central Manchester.
The new purpose-built development will house nine inpatient wards designed to deliver a safe and therapeutic environment for patients, carers, visitors and staff. When complete in late 2024, the new development will provide spacious, well-resourced and modern facilities specifically designed to help people recover from mental health problems.
The £105.9 million unit will replace Park House mental health inpatient unit at North Manchester General Hospital. It will be completely rebuilt on the hospital site, but in an alternative location to Park House. This will allow the new development to be fully constructed without disrupting current patients and the day-to-day running of services.
The new development will see significant improvements to patient experience, with spacious single bedrooms, each with a private en-suite shower room, as well as a variety of indoor activity areas,meeting rooms for family visiting, multiple gardens, spaces for therapeutic artwork and a café.
North View has also been designed as an all-electric healthcare facility to support the NHS goal of becoming net zero and will utilise heat pump technology to provide heating, cooling and the generation of hot water. The building will also incorporate energy efficient materials throughout, and roof mounted solar power.
This new development is part of an exciting vision for North Manchester General Hospital to improve health and wellbeing for local people over the next 10 to 15 years.
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive, Neil Thwaite, said: “I am thrilled we are starting to lay the foundations for North View which will transform the mental health inpatient experience for our service users, their families and our staff. Our service users, staff and the local community have made significant contributions to the design of our new, award-winning mental health inpatient unit, which will lead to a more modern, accessible building.
“We know that shared dormitories and outdated physical environments are obstacles to mental health inpatient care. This forms part of a wider transformation plan to improve care, including improvements to community services. This investment allows us to continue to improve the individual care we can offer service users and keep them safe in a supportive and therapeutic environment which meets their needs.”
Leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Bev Craig, said:
"The redevelopment of North Manchester General Hospital is a £600m once-in-a-generation investment into health services for our residents in this part of the city – and a development that is an important example of our ongoing economic recovery following the pandemic. So, it’s welcome that we can celebrate the start-on-site for the mental health in-patient unit as part of the wider health campus, which will form a vital part of the offer, in spacious, modern facilities.”
NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Chair, Sir Richard Leese, said:
“A modern site with state-of-the-art facilities will not only provide patients with a more comfortable and dignified environment to recover in, but the development of North View will enhance their experience and aid them on their recovery journey.
“This is a great step towards improving adult mental health care in North and Central Manchester, where we have seen a clear need and demand for a specialist service. The quality and design of this new development will be felt in its impact for many years to come.”
Integrated Health Projects, Regional Managing Director, Garry Bowker, said:
“We are delighted to now be on site at North View. There is a real sense of collaboration across the whole team in delivering this important facility. The development will not only improve service user outcomes, it will also significantly reduce the Trust’s carbon footprint and will generate key opportunities to develop skills, provide training and create sustainable employment for local residents from North Manchester and the wider North West”.
In November 2021, the Trust announced it had received government approval for its Full Business Case to begin work on the development, which enabled it to begin construction.
Early work took place on site during 2022 to clear the site and create the infrastructure needed to begin construction of the new development.
The Trust will be working with its Principal Supply Chain Partner, Integrated Health Projects (the alliance between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine).
Find out more at https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/improving-north-manchester
