Reconfiguration

Construction on relocating and refurbishing two life-saving Cath Labs at City Hospital has begun. The £6million upgrade will see the two labs relocated so that they are next to two Cath Labs on our City Hospital site and within the Trent Cardiac Centre - a Regional Centre of Excellence. 

Not only will this move improve patient experience as patients will be closer to the rest of the Cardiology provision, but the new rooms will also be larger to meet current clinical standards and will be fitted out with brand new ventilation and new equipment.

A Cath Lab is used for patients experiencing chest pain and uses an X-ray and a catheter to see what is happening in the heart

Work has begun on improving the endoscopy unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), D Floor, West Block. The £12 million investment by NUH and NHS England (NHSE), will see the QMC Unit being reconfigured and extended to create a much bigger space, allowing for an additional third operating room.

The new bigger endoscopy unit will deliver a number of significant benefits for our patients. In addition to increasing capacity, it will shorten the length of waiting time for those needing these procedures – which can be very complex and take up to three hours.  It will also help to quicken the delivery of urgent diagnostic endoscopy to in-patients waiting to be discharged, as well as provide state-of-the-art training facilities for staff.

NUH’s two other endoscopy units, located within the Treatment Centre and at City Hospital, will not be affected by the construction work, with services continuing there as normal. 

The new QMC endoscopy unit is expected to open early in 2026. 

A new facility that caters specifically for young people with limb loss and wheelchair requirements has opened at the City Hospital site. The Mobility Centre Children’s Annexe forms part of the regional NUH Mobility Centre, which supports patients of all ages from across Nottinghamshire Lincolnshire and parts of Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

The new facility has been built specifically for patients from birth through to 18 years old who need prosthetic limbs and bespoke wheelchairs, as well as specialised assessment and therapy services. It includes several clinical and assessment rooms, a room with child-friendly gym equipment and office space for up to 36 staff.  There is also a specially created outdoor training area, featuring cobbles, uneven ground, tarmac, concrete and sand, which gives patients the opportunity to test their new equipment over different surfaces.

The Mobility Centre is part of a network of 33 regional centres for amputee rehabilitation across the UK and oversees care for around 1,800 amputees and 12,000 wheelchair users. Approximately 500 children are referred (or re-referred) each year to the facility.

The new Mobility Centre Children’s Annexe means that there is now a separate space for young people that caters for their specific mobility needs, in a building which meets all their accessibility needs. It is a key step in NUH’s developing plans to improve the wider Mobility Centre facilities.

A brand-new dementia-friendly assessment unit for older people has been built as part of a £9.8 million investment to increase the number of beds at the Queen's Medical Centre. These additional beds help to improve flow out of the Emergency Department.   

The 24-bed Geriatric Assessment Unit (GAU) has been designed specifically with the older person in mind, some of whom may be frail. It is ideally located as it is close to our Emergency Department, which will ensure a smooth transfer for patients who need to be admitted to the GAU unit. 

The construction of the £9.8million unit, funded by a national NHS England grant and built by Newton Construction, will help to improve flow through the hospital, and patients will only spend a maximum of 72 hours on the unit.

The dementia-specific features of the new unit include:

• Bright yellow toilet doors throughout the unit to help patients find them, especially at night.
• A clock in each room which clearly displays the day and the date. Special circadian lighting to mimic outside light conditions and help patients maintain a routine.
• Furniture designed to prevent falls. 
• Plain flooring to minimise confusion.
• Different coloured walls and soothing murals in each four-bed bay to assist patients with finding their rooms. 
• Additional CCTV and security features to prevent confused patients from leaving unnoticed.

Now that the GAU is open, older patients will continue to be admitted to the Emergency Department as normal, and the frailty team based there will do a first assessment of any patients who may be suitable for the unit.

Older patients who cannot be discharged home with community care or seen by the Same Day Emergency Care team, can be welcomed to the new GAU for observations and additional assessment for up to 72 hours while clinicians decide the best treatment for the patient.

The aim is to enable the patient to return to their normal place of residence with support in place, but for those patients who need additional support, they may be transferred to a community bed for rehabilitation or onto a ward for longer care. 

The new unit was officially opened on 18 July 2024 by Nottingham-born TV star Vicky McClure and 94-year-old patient Stanley Metcalf.

Best known for her roles in Line of Duty and This is England, Vicky has long advocated for dementia awareness, including sharing the story of her grandmother who was diagnosed with the disease, and pulling together Our Dementia Choir as part of a BBC1 documentary. The Our Dementia Choir also sang for the opening and then led a sing-a-long with the patients and staff on the ward, including classics such as ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Stand By Me’.