Proposals show Hinckley Cottage Hospital could be knocked down to build new facility

Hinckley Cottage Hospital was opened in 1900.

Preparation work for a Day Case Unit at Hinckley and District Hospital is underway and proposals have been revealed showing what the centre could look like.

The proposals include replacing the existing Hinckley Cottage Hospital on Mount Road with a new building.

Andy Strange, The Strategy Lead at NHS Property Services told Fosse107 they explored options to integrate the existing building but it wasn't viable.

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A document published by Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board says: "The proposals include the replacement of the existing hospital that we know will be cherished by many local people. We have explored options to integrate the existing building into the scheme, but we have concluded that it is not viable. The layout of the existing hospital was not suitable for the services that previously existed within it (including x-ray and endoscopy services that will be re-provided within the new CDC), and it would not be suitable for Day Case Surgery services. We've therefore concluded that the best option is to replace it with a new building that can be developed to modern standards to treat double the number of Day Case Surgery patients (around 2,000 rather than 1,000 people a year) than were treated in the existing hospital in an efficient, accessible, patient friendly and energy efficient environment that will meet modern healthcare requirements, including current standards for air flow, ventilation and infection control."

They have also said that they hope to include a commemorative area to show the importance of the building.

Hinckley Cottage Hospital was opened in 1900.

The total cost of the new Day Case Unit on the existing Hinckley and District Hospital site is £10.5 million and will see all services delivered from a new building on the Mount Road site linked to the new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC).

This unit would cater for a wider range of clinical specialities in more modern facilities. Speciality services that would be delivered include plastic surgery, general surgery, vascular surgery, ophthalmology, urology, podiatric surgery and gynaecology.

A planning application has not yet been submitted for these proposals.

A start time on the site will depend on the decision of the planning application and if permission is granted work will start on the site this year.