ST CROSS hospital is to expand its services for Rugby patients – meaning fewer journeys to Coventry’s hospital.
Speaking exclusively to The Observer, a director of the NHS Trust which runs the two hospitals said there were plans to continually increase activity at St Cross which would benefit Rugbeians.
While ruling out a return of A&E or maternity services to St Cross in the foreseeable future, David Moon – Director of Finance and Strategy for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust – said the hospital would see a number of upgrades and additions in the next two or three years, and nothing would be taken away.
He said: “We will be looking at having chemotherapy services delivered at St Cross.
“We’re also looking at increasing the number of operating theatres – partly to meet growing demand, and partly to deliver more elective work.
“About 1,000 more patients have been operated on in Rugby in 2015-16 than were in 2014-15 – and this year will be higher still.
“There will be more facilities open to the residents of Rugby than they’ve had for a long long time in terms of elective services, so patients from Rugby will be looking at fewer journeys to University Hospital Coventry.”
He added the Trust intended to provide more outpatient services at St Cross in the coming years, and said plans to develop a sleep apnoea service at the hospital were in the early stages.
Mr Moon discussed the plans with The Observer, after a meeting between UHCW NHS Trust Chief Executive Officer Professor Andy Hardy and Rugby MP Mark Pawsey suggested ‘exciting plans for the future’.
Professor Hardy said: “We are treating more patients at St Cross than ever before, and have also seen lots of new services coming to the hospital, including the Friends Blood Taking Unit, which opened in December and has already helped to reduce waiting times for patients.”
Mr Pawsey said: “Rugby residents are rightly proud of the Hospital of St Cross and I know how valuable the hospital is to our town.
“I am pleased that in recent years we have seen an expansion of services, but I want to see further services offered here in Rugby as the town grows.
“During my meeting with Professor Hardy I was reassured of the importance of St Cross and learnt more about the plans to invest substantially in the site in the coming years to provide more services for Rugby.”
