For the first time, the UK will have a ‘National Rehabilitation Centre’ (NRC) following Government approval for the £105 million plans today (Thursday 21 September 2023).
Approval by HM Treasury means work on the site (near Loughborough in the East Midlands) can now start in earnest, creating a 70-bed, purpose-built and highly energy efficient new facility as part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme.
The specialist NHS facility will be built on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate, already home to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre which opened in 2018.
Combining patient care delivered by staff from Nottingham University Hospitals with research, innovation and training, the centre’s objective is to act as the National hub to transform how people recover and regain fitness and function following serious injury or illness, and to widen access to rehabilitation beds.
The unique opportunity to pioneer innovative new approaches to rehabilitation, including new technologies, with real time feedback from clinicians and patients, is a clinical model that it is hoped will be rolled out across the country. This will be enabled not least via an academic partnership led by the University of Nottingham and Loughborough University.
The construction of the centre aims to be completed by the end of 2024. Contracts have been exchanged between NUH and its construction partner Integrated Health Projects (IHP), a joint venture between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine.
Miriam Duffy, NRC Programme Director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The National Rehabilitation Centre will transform how we provide clinical rehabilitation in this country. This long overdue centre will push the boundaries of rehabilitation for the next generation and bring real impact in terms of helping people to realise their full potential following injury or illness.”
The designs for the NRC are inspired by best practice from around the world with the facility purpose-planned and purpose-designed around the patient. The new building will be carbon net zero.
