Patients and staff now have one more week to give their input at the public consultation on NHS Lanarkshire’s plans for the new hospital on Wester Moffat farmland.

Project staff and healthcare experts describe the proposals for the new £400million facility as an ‘exciting vision for a modern hospital fit for the 21st century’ and which will use the layout, landscape and technology digital to offer “the best patient experience”.

The consultation closes on March 29, with all comments being collated into a report which will form part of the official planning application to be submitted to North Lanarkshire Council later this year.

Monklands Replacement Project Director Graeme Reid said: “The new hospital will be an example of a net zero hospital for Scotland, delivering a sustainable future for all.

“[It] will also be part of a digital health campus using modern methods to maximize patient safety, service access and user experience.

“The development of the hospital will be a catalyst for regeneration and employment, and the new construction will provide employment and training opportunities in the region and beyond.”

He spoke in a video that is part of the online consultation website, which features information about the chosen site and the new building’s ‘village’ design concept, as well as road and transport links, parking and active travel. .

It also sees Dr Jim Ruddy, Clinical Manager, stressing the importance of the ‘very large ground floor’ co-locating key departments, saying: ‘We have the ability to provide the best clinical care to our patients across Lanarkshire and local people.

“This decision will contribute to our ambitions to reduce reliance on inpatient beds by increasing day treatment and outpatient treatment; on a new large site, we can create the ideal hospital to offer the most modern care [and] our vision of a new clinical model that puts patient care at the center of everything we do is now closer to a reality.

Clinical Head Nurse Fiona Cowan added: “Design development focused on the user experience for patients, staff and visitors – making the spaces human-scaled and person-centered a was a key element.

“This revolves around groupings of blocks in a village plan, designed around a civic space giving the hospital its identity as well as its means of orientation and easy orientation.

“The emphasis on landscaping is to create a natural environment in harmony with the surrounding wooded context; the landscape of the new Monklands Hospital will provide users with high quality spaces suitable for a modern healthcare facility.

Karen Goudie, Monklands Chief Nursing Officer, said: “We have an incredible future ahead of us with the design and construction of our state-of-the-art hospital in Wester Moffat.

“It is a very important undertaking for us to create an environment where staff can thrive [with] the support not only of the technology we will provide to help them keep patients safe, but in an environment that cares about their well-being.

“Our ambition is to create a hospital at the highest digital level; it’s an exciting part of the history of Monklands Hospital.

Lead designer Donna McHenry outlined the ‘digital hospital’ proposals for Monklands, saying: ‘Technology will be used to enable patients to access care advice and navigate our hospital.

“This hospital will ensure safer and higher quality patient care for staff and patients through the use of digital technology and real-time information to support an effective and efficient patient journey.

“[It] be safer thanks to the new digital systems we will have in place to support patients and their clinical teams; it will also allow our clinicians to be mobile and connected wherever they are on site.

The public consultation runs until March 29 at www.keppiedesign.co.uk/mrp, with the project website also including proposal information sections as well as frequently asked questions.

Comments can be submitted online, by emailing [email protected], by calling 01698 752320 or by writing to Freepost RTEJ-HZLK-AETZ, Communications Department, NHS Lanarkshire, Kirklands , Fallside Road, Bothwell G71 8BB.

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