£2m service expansion for West Midlands hospital

Bosses at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust want to offer a wider range of clinics and facilities at Rowley Regis Hospital.

They say it will mean more people can get regular treatment closer to home rather than travelling to Sandwell Hospital or Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.

A consultation is under way with residents to find out what services they would like to be available at the hospital in Moor Lane.

Ideas put forward so far include a pharmacy, midwifery services including antenatal and postnatal clinics and respiratory therapy.

Improved gym facilities and space for health support groups to use to help patients and families have also been suggested.

Chief executive Toby Lewis said up to £3m had been spent redeveloping the hospital during the past two years and now the hospital trust expected to invest a further £1m to £2m by 2016.

Mr Lewis said that by expanding the range of services they could stop patients having to travel to larger sites for follow-up appointments or long-term treatment.

"A lot of Sandwell residents go to Russells Hall Hospital because it's more convenient to where they live in the borough.

"But I think for long-term care for these patients, the consensus from local GPs, my staff and staff at Russells Hall is we could make more use of Rowley Regis."

"It's a cracking building and it's about choosing the right services that people want and need," he added.

Mr Lewis said the consultation would also look at whether any other changes would need to be made to the site such as expanding the car park.

Services currently based at the site include outpatient clinics for cardiology, diabetes, rheumatology and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT).

There is also a primary care assessment and treatment service for patients who need monitoring but not admission to an acute hospital and gym facilities for patients who need physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

The hospital recently opened a 20-bed ward to temporary house patients declared medically-fit but who cannot be sent home straight away.

It comes as preparation work continues ahead of the construction of the £353m Midland Metropolitan Hospital in Smethwick. The 'super hospital' which will be built on a site off Grove Lane will have 670 beds.

The Rowley Regis Hospital consultation runs until March 20. People can share their views via an online questionnaire or by visiting the hospital on week days between 10am and 3pm.