THE funding for an £87million surgical centre at Musgrove Park Hospital has been approved.

The centre is set to replace current theatres and the critical care unit at the Taunton hospital, which were built during the Second World War as part of a temporary casualty evacuation hospital for the D-Day landings.

It is set to include an endoscopy suite with six endoscopy rooms, patient recovery and clinical support areas, eight operating theatres and 22 critical care beds.

This week, the Government gave its final approval for the funding.

Dr Daniel Meron, chief medical officer at Somerset NHS Foundation trust, which runs Musgrove, said this was a huge boost for Somerset.

“We are delighted that funding for the new surgical centre has been fully approved by the Government,” he said.

“We want to support our excellent clinical and non-clinical teams to further improve the outstanding care they provide to our patients and we are very excited at the prospect of being able to care for and treat our patients in state-of-the-art operating theatres and critical care facilities.

“Work has already started on the site to clear older buildings ready for the main construction phase and we currently estimate the new centre will be open for patients in 2024.”

Work has already started on getting the hospital site ready, which is set to be complete by the end of this year (2021). And the major building work is set to start in early 2022.

READ MORE: Building work on two major projects at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, to begin soon

Kier Regional Building have been contracted to carry out the work.

“We are delighted the green light has been given to construct the new surgical centre at Musgrove Park," said managing director Anthony Irving.

"Over the past two years, we have worked collaboratively with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to develop this scheme that will provide first-class facilities.

“We will utilise our vast experience within the healthcare sector to deliver both the surgical centre and the acute assessment hub at Musgrove that will support the trust in providing important services for the people of Somerset.”

Nick Fairham, principal at architecture practice BDP has been carrying out design work for the Musgrove 2030 modernisation programme since it began including the hospital's Jubilee Building which opened in 2014.

"In line with the wider modernisation and transformation of Musgrove Park Hospital, patient, staff and visitor experience is at the heart of the new surgical centre's design," he said.

"This includes everything from creating high dependency and recovery space immediately adjacent to the theatres so that patients remain within the care of their specialist team after their surgery, to maximising opportunity for daylight and views of the gardens.

"The centre will be connected to both the Concourse and Jubilee buildings by glazed links overlooking landscaped and planted courtyards helping patients to move from one area to another, enabling easy access for visitors and improving efficiency for staff."

MP for Taunton Deane, Rebecca Pow, said the facilities at the hospital are in need of an upgrade, and so she is "delighted" funding has been approved.

"The care offered at Musgrove is excellent but many of the facilities are antiquated and have long been in need of an upgrade," she said.

"I am therefore delighted with the news that the business case for Musgrove’s new surgical centre has been fully approved by Government.

"I led a debate in Parliament in early 2018 before following this up with a petition backed by thousands of local signatures in order to make the strongest possible case for a new centre and after working in partnership with many local and national stakeholders diligently since the outset, I am so pleased that this project has finally come to fruition.

"Excitingly, this project is just one part of the plans to upgrade the entire site – with Musgrove one of the hospitals that the Government has put into the new £3billion project to improve and build 40 hospitals across the whole nation. I’d like to pay particular tribute to the Trust for the great deal of work they’ve done to prepare this scheme for delivery and all those who continue to work hard day and night to provide the best care for patients in the area.”

Health and Social care secretary Matt Hancock added he was "delighted" to give the centre the green light.

"The new £87 million centre will replace the oldest operating theatres still in use in England with state of the art new theatres and critical care facilities.

“This is great news for staff and local residents, who will also benefit from the new Musgrove Park Hospital which we are backing as one of the 40 new hospitals which will be built by 2030.”

A separate £11.5 million development is also taking place to move the hospital’s acute assessment unit closer to the hospital’s emergency department which will mean faster access to consultants and surgeons and quicker assessments for patients who may require emergency surgery.

This is expected to be complete in early 2022.

Work to construct a new therapies building and a refurbishment of much of the hospital’s maternity unit are also underway.

And the next steps of Musgrove 2030 will include a new maternity and children’s building and further development of the hospital’s cancer and emergency services.