The £100million plans to upgrade Torbay Hospital - including new medical hub

150923 new hospital Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust
New plans revealed for Torbay Hospital. Credit: Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust

A "once-in-a-generation" £100million redevelopment plan has been revealed for Torbay Hospital.

Some of its oldest buildings will make way for new state-of-the-art facilities, while a new medical hub in Torquay town centre will handle tens of thousands of appointments every year.

“These are really exciting times for Torbay’s NHS,” said Adel Jones, director of transformation and partnerships at the Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust.

“It feels like a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

The council’s adult social care and health committee was shown the latest plans for the massive hospital scheme, which has already started to take shape.

A new radiotherapy centre will open in October, followed by an endoscopy suite the following month. New day-case theatres will open in the new year.

It comes as part of the government’s New Hospital Programme and will be finished by 2030.

The plans also include expanding the emergency department.

As part of the same project, a community diagnostic centre will be built in Torquay, operated by the privately-owned InHealth Group.

“We haven’t seen this kind of investment in the NHS here for a very long time,” said Ms Jones.

Programme director Chris Knights added: “It isn’t just about building a better hospital. It’s about the way we deliver our care."

The committee was told that the changes would allow the overcrowded emergency department to expand, with twice as much space available.

“It was built in the 1960s for 1960s activity,” he said. “It needs to be upgraded completely.”

Plans for the huge hospital upgrade. Credit: Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust

The new £5million town centre hub is designed to offer more than 46,000 patients ultrasound, MRI, CT and other tests every year. It could open as early as April next year.

Councillors raised concerns about how the hospital will deal with an ever-growing Torbay population.

Ms Jones told them: “Care is changing. We will be using more digital techniques to help people stay in their own homes.

"People can be overseen by consultants while staying in their own homes and being monitored there.”

Council leader David Thomas said the project was "fantastically good news" and a huge investment for Torbay.

Committee chairman Patrick Joyce added: “It’s exciting and it’s long overdue. We need to be able to support the people that live in Torbay, and there are really good things ahead.”

Credit: Guy Henderson, Local Democracy Reporting Service