Countess of Chester Hospital’s £110m Women and Children’s building opens
The building will give maternity services for nearly 2,000 women each year, supporting antenatal, labour, and postnatal care, as well as providing gynaecology wards.
Integrated Health Projects, the joint venture between VINCI and Sir Robert McAlpine, has delivered the £110m, three-storey maternity centre.
CCL Solutions provided project management expertise from design, alongside AHR Architects, through to completion.
Promising “privacy, comfort, and joy”, the unit’s 19 en-suite rooms make up one of the highest capacity maternity services in the North West.
Expanded outpatient facilities and ‘beds at the bedside’ in dedicated family-friendly paediatric rooms will be provided.
Work on the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust began in June 2023.
Completion will allow the hospital to relocate from the current Women and Children’s building, which has been in use since 1971.
Funding for the three-storey building came from the National RAAC Programme, which is providing cash for the replacement of buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Due to this same issue, Aintree Hospital is also aiming to relocate services.
In addition to private rooms, a four-bed space will be on offer for mothers seeking a more ‘social’ setting.
Jane Tomkinson OBE, chief executive at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a significant milestone for the Trust and for families across Chester, Ellesmere Port, and the surrounding areas. Our new Women and Children’s Building will provide modern, welcoming spaces that support the best possible care for patients and their families and a positive environment for staff. We are incredibly proud to be opening this new facility.”
