Wednesday 9th February 2011

Chesterfield Royal Hospital has announced today that HRH The Duchess of Cornwall (below) will be performing the official opening of the new £12 million ward development at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The visit is due to take place next Friday, February 18th, when Her Royal Highness will tour the new facility, meeting staff and patients as well as the architects (The Manser Practice, Leeds), building contractors (GB Building Solutions, Wakefield) and others responsible for the modern, innovative, energy saving design.

Hasland, Elmton and Ridgeway Wards (all named after North Derbyshire areas) became the Trust's largest development since it gained foundation status on January 1st 2005, when they opened in August last year. 

The Duchess will be shown around Elmton (Surgery) and Hasland (Orthopaedic) Wards. Each of them feature 32 beds, isolation rooms that help prevent the spread of serious infections, clinical treatment rooms, pharmacy drug preparation areas and two nursing stations.

Fifty percent of the accommodation offers single rooms, with en-suite facilities and the wards bays are also spacious, with en-suite bathrooms with views over fields and Tapton golf course.

Chief Executive Eric Morton said: "We are delighted to welcome HRH The Duchess of Cornwall to officially open this incredible development which was the highlight of an £80million, five-year capital investment plan.

"We are incredibly proud of the facilities - and our patients have been very vocal in letting us know how positive their experiences have been on these wards.

"To have such a prestigious visitor will allow us to showcase the hard work that's gone into making these wards a huge success."

The three wards are the culmination of a period of investment that has seen the trust develop a new birth centre, a specialist children's unit, a central outpatient reception, new pathology laboratories, CT scanner and MRI scanner suites and a continuing ward upgrade programme.

The visit of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall carries on a recent tradition of Royal openings for the trust's new schemes.

HRH The Princess Royal opened The Den in March 2009; and HRH The Countess of Wessex opened Chesterfield Birth Centre in May 2010. HRH The Princess Royal also opened the trust's Scarsdale Wing in 1989 and HRH The Prince of Wales opened the hospital's Cavendish Suite (chemotherapy unit) in 1999. The hospital was itself opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1985.

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