The £24m Community Diagnostic Centre is now open!
However, the second phase - the £10m Day Case Unit - is in jeopardy.
Let me explain more, as there are two different projects but they are very closely aligned...
SIGN THE PETITION BELOW
Last year I shared the exciting news that we had received £10m funding for a new Day Case Unit from the previous Government, which will enable local people to undergo day surgeries and procedures in Hinckley. This will compliment the now-open Community Diagnostic Centre.
After last year’s consultation on the plans for the Day Case Unit – which includes demolition of the old Cottage Hospital on Mount Street – the NHS submitted a planning application to Hinckley & Bosworth in May.
Last week I was made aware, by our local press, that the Leader of Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council has written to the Health Secretary asking him to “look again” at the plans for the Day Case Unit – the funding for which has a deadline of February 2026 – so that the front of the old Cottage Hospital on Mount Road could be incorporated. This would lead to a delay and risks us losing the funding altogether.
I was not copied into, nor did I receive a copy of, the letter.
At a time when the Labour Government is looking to cut back on capital expenditure projects, the actions of Cllr Bray could fundamentally jeopardise the £10m investment in our hospital.
The NHS has been clear: there is no scope clinically or financially to use the old Cottage Hospital as it stands for the Day Case Unit.
The old Cottage Hospital invigorated local healthcare when it opened in 1900 and has been part of our community ever since. Sadly, as I saw at the end of last year when the NHS showed me around, it’s no longer fit for purpose. Rooms are partly demolished, you can see the wiring in the walls, and the reliance on an old system of using oxygen cannisters in operating theatres is no longer safe for patients or clinicians.
You can read what the NHS has to say on the issue here: Hinckley Day Case Unit - LLR ICB
An empty building, which is unsafe to operate in, as much as we all care for its heritage, serves no one.
I and many others have fought so hard for the £35m investment in our area, I will do all I can to ensure that this does not fail at the second phase.
Access to local healthcare for local people should not be put at risk like this, which is why I’m asking people to sign this petition in support of our £10m investment.
