Walsall Manor Hospital seeking £5m for critical care unit
Walsall Manor Hospital is seeking a £5 million loan as it struggles to fund a new critical care unit, it has emerged.
The trust which runs the hospital has suffered a £12.9m deficit over the last 12 months and is now braced for a £17.7m black hole this year.
There are £10.3m plans for a new intensive care unit and expansion of maternity.
But a rise in patient numbers has increased the financial pressures over the last year and had an impact on resources.
It means Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is now preparing to seek a loan to push ahead with its plan for the unit.
It is preparing to allocate £3m from its allocation from the Government following the Stafford Hospital situation, which saw it downgraded and consequently led to more patients coming from Staffordshire.
Ian Baines, director of finance and performance, said: "When the initial business case for developing an Integrated Critical Care Unit at the Manor Hospital was approved, the trust had sufficient cash reserves to afford the build.
"However, the financial year 2014/15 has been very challenging and a deficit of £12.9m is now likely for the end of the financial year.
"As a consequence of this deficit our cash reserves have declined and we have had to make some difficult decisions, including that to delay building our new ICCU.
"The board fully supports pursuing the new ICCU in the year ahead but in order to afford it we have to source alternative forms of financing it.
"We are currently in discussion with the Trust Development Authority to see how this can be achieved.
"Our financial plan for 2015/16 includes a capital loan of £5m for the ICCU plus the draw down of 'Mid Staffordshire capital' amounting to £3m to support the development of maternity services."
It is hoped work will get under way once funding is secured.
"It will bring together the hospital's existing Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU) into a single unit."
It is envisaged to take between 12 to 18 months to complete and will see the new unit located in the former West Wing main entrance, close to the Emergency Department.
It was revealed last week the trust is to cut almost 50 posts as it plans to save £10.5m this year.
But with the planned investment in nurses, bosses say the overall number of workers will increase.
