£13m funding to upgrade hospitals across Black Country and Staffordshire
More than £13 million will be given to hospitals in the Black Country and Staffordshire to help tackle "urgent" maintenance issues by March 2021.
NHS hospital staff, patients and visitors across all regions in the Midlands will benefit from refurbished wards, brand-new electrics and upgraded ventilation systems by next spring.
The Midlands has been allocated £101m for 299 maintenance projects across 30 Trusts as part of a £600m investment by the Government.
It includes £3.7m for two projects at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, earmarked for replacement and refurbishments to theatres at Walsall Manor Hospital.
It also includes £3.1m for nine projects at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, £1.2m for one project at the Dudley Group NHS Trust, £1.8m for nine projects at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, and £3.2m for 19 projects at University Hospitals North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs Stafford County Hospital.
A total of £7.8m will be also given to the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust for 43 projects, and £1.1m will be handed to The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Birmingham for five projects.
Birmingham Women’s and Children's NHS Foundation Trust will get £2.6m for four projects, and Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust will get £900,000 for 20 projects.
Meanwhile Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust will receive £1.6m for 10 projects, and Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust will receive £1m for six projects.
Over in Shropshire, £5.7m will be handed to The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust for 14 projects, and £1m will be given to Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust for 24 projects.
And a total of £500,000 will be given to The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Oswestry for eight projects.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "Alongside delivering on our manifesto commitment to build 40 new hospitals and 20 major hospital upgrades across the country, this investment will help our NHS build back better.
"These crucial maintenance projects will deliver immediate benefits and provide NHS staff with the facilities they need to provide world-class care to their patients this winter, helping ensure the NHS is always there for you when you need it."
Major projects elsewhere in the country include £6.5m for the construction of a new MRI building at St George’s Hospital in London to house a new scanner, and £2.7m to refurbish Firth Theatres at the Northern General Hospital, which includes critical care, cardiovascular surgery and other surgical wards.
Earlier this year health trusts were handed £300m to help them prepare for the winter rush.
New Cross Hospital received £1.7m to help strengthen Covid safety measures, enabling the creation of a one-way triage centre in the main waiting area and improvements to patient flow.
The Government has committed to spending £3.7 billion to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.
