A £50million 'health village' set to be built next to the Burton's hospital will include a care home, doctors' surgery and a nursery, it has been revealed.

The complex, set to be built on the Outwoods site next to Queen's Hospital in Belvedere Road, will also include an extra care facility to house people who would otherwise be blocking up a hospital bed, including older people who are waiting to go into a care home.

The hospital has revealed that on an average day it has 50 'bed blockers' in Queen's Hospital. The village would revolve around a central hub, housing a cafe and apartments for hospital workers.

Details on the plan were revealed at a public meeting at the hospital, with the village set to open by 2021. A number of old buildings will be flattened to make way for the new centre.

Two buildings are expected to remain on the Outwoods site that are currently there – the multi-million pound dementia centre that is being built on the site of the old Margaret Stanhope Centre, which is currently under construction, as well as the Medical Education Centre, which is used for hospital teaching purposes.

The village scheme is being developed between Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and STRIDE, the hospitals' own development arm, which is tasked with developing facilities at the hospital.

Currently there are many unused buildings on the land, which have been described as being of poor quality and in need of renovation if they are to be used.

Artists Impression for the new development set to be built onthe same site as the site of the former Margret Stanhope Centre
Proposed South View
Queen's Hospital Artists Impression for the new development set to be built on the same site as the site of the former Margret Stanhope Centre Proposed South View

Jonathan Tringham, the director of finance at the hospital trust said: "This mainly focuses around how do we make the best use of our estate, to deliver efficiency but to also to really improve the outcomes for patients.

"This has been a health facility since the late 19 century when the old house that was based on this site became the isolation hospital and there's been a range of health services provided from the site since then.

"In recent years the number of services provided on the site has reduced as the aging estate has not been fit for purpose for the advances in the way medicine and healthcare is delivered.

"Consequently, the trust carried out an option appraisal for what do we do with the site. There were three options."

Mr Tringham explained that these three options for the future of the site were to either sell the land, develop it for residential housing or develop it as a health village, with the latter being highlighted as the preferred option.

He then said that the village would bring about three benefits to the trust as a whole.

He continued: "The first priority is about bringing together a range of both health and care services that compliment and supports the delivery of services on the Queen's site.

"Many people will know that the site is under significant pressure as the years go by, we saw 166 more emergency admissions into our hospital in December, than we did in the previous December.

Artists Impression for the new development set to be built on the same site as the site of the former Margret Stanhope Centre
Proposed South View
Artists Impression for the new development set to be built onthe same site as the site of the former Margret Stanhope Centre Proposed South East View

"We know patients are staying in hospital that don't need to be there, on an average day we will have 50 patients who don't need to be in there, and that means those facilities are available for others.

"Whether that is because they've had an operation and they're not yet back on their feet, or if they don't have the support at home, or waiting for adaptations to be done at your house.

"Being on that site is not the solution, therefore if we can provide here that supports that, then that frees us up on there.

"The second exciting thing is about bringing a range of local services onto this site, services that are already provided locally will move here into new facilities, but also you will see a range of other new services that can be provided from this site that are there for local residents in the area.

"Thirdly, there is a desire and ambition not to create just a set of buildings that sit on that site and nobody knows anything about it. It is to create a facility that becomes part of the community, whether that’s because you access the facilities there, you use the café to meet friends, or access the learning services.

"Whatever it is, we need to plan how we make it an integral part of the community, not just the buildings which are there."

The development, which is currently expected to cost around £50 million, and will consist of seven different sections being brought to the site.

Neil O'Cuinneagain, the development director at STRIDE said it was keen to ensure that the buildings become a community, rather than simply a set of buildings.

Artists Impression for the new development set to be built on the same site as the site of the former Margret Stanhope Centre
Proposed South View
Artists Impression for the new development set to be built on the same site as the site of the former Margret Stanhope Centre Proposed South View

Mr O'Cuinneagain explained in depth what the seven different facilities on the site will offer.

The first will be accommodation for staff, he said: "The first building will be on the far end of the site, where the Geoffrey Hodges building is at the moment. We are looking to put in a key worker, clinical staff unit, with 88 apartments with beds.

"This will provide critical accommodation for key workers, nurses, students who are looking to come and train, and learn at University."

The second building is a 'step-down facility': "Not only at this hospital but countrywide, there are often people who are in acute beds that could be used for other needs. They actually don’t need to be there.

"Not only does that block the bed but it costs the trust a lot of money to keep those people in those acute beds.

"The idea is we would build a step-down facility where either the people's needs mean they might need a little bit of care, but they don't need to be on the acute ward, or actually they don’t need any care but they might need some adaption by doing up their home through social services and they can’t be discharged.

"That will be shaped by ongoing discussion we are having with the trust as the look and feel of those 50 beds, but that is the general idea and concept behind it."

On the plan, a long building running along the far right side can be seen, which will form an extra care facility.

Queen's Hospital is just one of the hospitals under the trust's umbrella
Burton's Queen's Hospital

The facility will be support those patients who are well enough not to be in a residential nursing or care home, but still need some support.

It will be able to support up to 88 patients.

Independence will be kept, with each room having its own kitchen, on-suite bathrooms and living areas.

Mr O’Cuinneagain continued: "As residents age, they might be able to bring in more and more care, until such time that they can't be independent anymore and then they might need to vacate that facility and move somewhere else like possibly a care home.

"At the moment, building number four is a care home. It's a 40-bedded home at the moment we are in discussions with various operators about running a multitude of these facilities.

"Whether it will be a nursing or residential care home, we haven't decided yet. We are still in discussions with that about what is the best use for that particular care home."

The fifth building has been noted as one of the most important of the development, and will be called The Hub.

Mr O'Cuinneagain described it as 'the heart and soul of this entire development'.

He explained: "We don't want anyone going into any of these buildings, and once they close their doors that’s where they stay until the time they walk or drive off the site.

"What would be in the community hub would be a cafeteria, or possibly a full restaurant, there would be offices, that community groups or people can rent and hire. There will be tables and chairs areas.

"What we're trying to encourage is interaction in-between not just people on the site, but other people that come on who might just have a GP appointment. The GP may be running a bit late, so they can some and have a coffee.

"Elsewhere there's charity groups that like this as well, because they can hire a room for an afternoon or an evening event. Fitness classes, further education events, all those type of skills.

A basic plan for the prospective care village that will be placed on the current Outwoods site
A basic plan for the prospective care village that will be placed on the current Outwoods site

"We see that as being absolutely vital. That's the vision and the layout of the buildings."

The sixth building is a primary care hub, with organisers are hoping will hold a GP practice.

It will also hopefully include a pharmacy, which will also be used by the Queen's Hospital site.

The final building is expected to be a nursery, expected to provide 100 spaces for youngsters.

Mr O'Cuinneagain explained: "It is envisaged to be a 100-place nursery, as some may be aware there is a nursery on the main site at the moment, which provides nursery services primarily for hospital staff. It is undersized and is a very old facility and pretty run down.

"It needs money spending on it and what we’re looking to do is provide a new facility that can cater for growth, for the waiting list and also possibly outside people who actually aren’t working at the hospital that need some nursery space.

"That would free up further space on the main site that could be redeveloped for more clinical use."

When these plans were revealed at the open meeting, questions were raised about whether any shops would be opened on the site.

Organisers from STRIDE and the Burton hospitals trust said they had spoken to some large retailers, but were told that the site might not be best to put a store.

Helen Scott-South, the chief executive of the trust said: "We're also having conversations about having more of some sort of facility outlet actually on the main hospital site as well.

"In part of the overall site development plan, there's always been a discussion about whether we ought to have some sort of outlet, whether that will then be more attractive to these organisation because of the footfall of the hospital as well, but that's as far as we've got with that conversation."