Framework finalised for £600m health campus
Plans to redevelop the North Manchester General Hospital site into a five-part “healthy living campus” have moved a step closer, with the council’s executive set to approve a strategic regeneration framework.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) has developed the framework, which sets out the guiding principles for a development programme for the site’s redevelopment.
Developer Bruntwood is working with the trust as a partner, while Sheppard Robson is the lead consultant and architect for the 67-acre site.
A draft framework for the Crumpsall site was signed off in November, and has since undergone a two-month consultation period. Following tweaks to the SRF, the plan is now going before the MCC executive to note changes made and to approve the document in full.
One of the most common responses among respondents was that hospital provision should not be diminished within the project. The hospital component of the plans are estimated to result in operational savings to the NHS of around £65m.
The five planks of the draft SRF are:
- Healthcare Hub – featuring a replacement acute hospital and modern mental health hospital, to anchor the campus
- Wellbeing Hub – to enable the delivery of modern, integrated community health, care and wellbeing services, with a single building for mixed service provision, meeting spaces and a café
- Education Hub – a centre to provide staff training for employees of the hospital and community health and wellbeing hub, and to generate employment opportunities for future local residents
- Healthy Neighbourhood Hub – a residential-led component providing key worker accommodation, social housing, stepdown care and extra care, as well as commercial space for local SMEs
- Village Green – comprising high quality outdoor space, acting as a focal point for the campus with green spaces and water features, for staff and local residents to use for meetings, exercise and relaxation
Funding of more than £50m has been secured by MFT following the approval of an outline business case for the project from the Department of Heath & Social Care in January.
In addition to the main hospital complex, a further £105m capital investment is planned to construct moern mental health facilities at a redeveloped Park House. Consented in January, this project is due for completion in 2024.
The Crumpsall plans are part of a major push around health by Manchester. Last week, the council signed off on a regeneration strategy for the Wythenshawe Hospital site, which is being advanced by MFT in partnership with Bruntwood, the developer having built up expertise in the sector with its work on Citylabs in the Oxford Road Corridor.
