Work to start on £20m building on hospital site

Construction work for a £20m new building on a hospital site will begin next month after planning permission was granted by a local authority.

Buckinghamshire Council approved the plans for the new endoscopy department at Wycombe Hospital.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust said it hoped the six-storey building would be open by 2027 and would enable services to move out of the Wycombe Hospital Tower Block, which was built in 1965.

The trust previously said the site was in "dire need of redevelopment".

The trust said the new "state-of-the-art" facility would provide cardiology, stroke and critical care services and new theatres in future phases of the project, once more funding had been secured.

The new building would be built on what is currently car park B at the hospital site.

Charmaine Hope, the trust's chief estates and facilities officer, said it would be a "transformative development".

"Starting construction in January marks a major step towards delivering best-in-class facilities for Buckinghamshire residents and moving critical services out of the ageing tower block into a purpose-built environment."

The new building will not include a full accident and emergency department, despite long-running calls from residents for one, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

There were some objections to the plans, including from one resident who raised concerns about air quality, noise levels, infection control, the loss of daylight caused by the new building and the potential impact on house prices.

Shelbourne Hospital, a private hospital in High Wycombe, also objected to the proposal and said the scheme should have been subject to a full Environmental Impact Assessment.

It also raised concerns over the loss of trees and canopy cover, reduced sunlight and daylight to neighbouring properties, noise and disturbance, air quality, highways and parking pressures and potential impacts on designated heritage assets, such as listed buildings, conservation areas and a registered park and garden.

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