By now, most residents in the borough will be aware that the consultation for our new hospital is well underway.

The money has been secured, medical experts have written the plans, and key stakeholders are supportive. The most important thing now is that Basingstoke residents have their say on what is proposed.  

The consultation, which can be found online on the Hampshire Together website, has three options for us to comment on, all designed with patient care and staff welfare as the priorities. More details can be found in the documents, but in short, the options are:

  1. A new hospital on the current hospital site 
  2. A new hospital near junction 7 of the M3 with some services remaining at the current site
  3. A new hospital near junction 7 but with more services remaining at the current site 

Last week, some of Hampshire’s leading clinicians wrote an open letter supporting option 2 on clinical grounds.

These proposals would centralise many services – such as neonatal and maternity care – in the new hospital in Basingstoke, meaning that key medical staff are not split between Winchester and Basingstoke to provide emergency and critical, complex care.

With Winchester focussed on planned treatment and step-down beds. What the medical experts want is that ‘’if you are critically unwell, you will be seen by experienced senior doctors and nurses who are experts in their field. This would have significant benefits for patients, both in terms of improvements to their care and their clinical outcomes.’’

The options in the public consultation do just that.

Putting emergency and critical specialists in one place rather than split between sites is just one of the many benefits that the new hospital will provide patients and our whole community. Find out about the rest by reading the consultation documents. 

The hospital’s doors are due to open in 2032. This may seem like a long time, but plans are due to be finalised soon so that attention can be turned towards building works.

If we continue to work together as a community in support of the new hospital, we can make the case to leapfrog other hospital-building projects that are facing greater problems in other parts of the country.

Doing so could enable us to argue for delivering the hospital ahead of the current indicative schedule. With all of this in mind, if you haven’t already, please take the time to have your say on the plans by responding to the consultation.