Approval given for new Somerset surgical centre

The government has given final approval for the funding of a new surgical centre at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, Somerset.

Designed by BDP and being delivered by contractor Kier, the £87M state-of-the-art centre will replace the current theatres and critical care unit, which were built during the Second World War as part of a temporary casualty evacuation hospital for the D-Day landings.

Procured through the Department for Health and Social Care’s P22 framework, the new surgical centre will include eight operating theatres, six endoscopy rooms with a patient recovery and clinical support area, as well as a critical care unit with 22 beds, specifically catering for level 2 and 3 critical care patients.

Much of the new centre will be steel-framed and it has been designed to increase capacity and ensure patients are cared for in a more modern and comfortable environment.

Nick Fairham, Principal at architecture practice BDP said: “In line with the wider modernisation and transformation of Musgrove Park Hospital, patient, staff and visitor experience is at the heart of the new surgical centre’s design.”