Posted on 19th Oct
A plan to further improve patient access to Newark Hospital has been turned into reality after contractors officially started work on a new 80-space car park.
It has been made possible by a partnership between Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Newark Hospital, and Newark and Sherwood District Council, which bought the land on Bowbridge Road.
There are currently 170 pay and display spaces, plus 20 spaces for blue badge holders, in the main Newark Hospital car park.
The new car park, which will have electric charging points, will provide parking for staff on site, which will free up spaces in the main car park for patients and visitors.
David Ainsworth, director of Strategy and Partnerships at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, said: “It’s exciting to see all our plans for Newark Hospital come to fruition and I’m very grateful to the team at Newark and Sherwood District Council.
“The additional parking spaces will make it so much easier for patients and visitors to visit the site and I hope it will encourage more people to elect to have their treatment or procedure at the hospital.”
The car park is part of the trust’s plan to maximise the potential of Newark Hospital, where more than £5m has been invested since 2020.
A new state-of-the-art operating theatre is set to open in November. Known as the Newark Elective Hub, the new facility means up to 2,600 extra operations and procedures will be able to take place at the hospital each year.
David added: “When the new theatre opens we will have the capacity to carry out more operations and procedures than ever before at Newark Hospital. We want to make full use of the fantastic facilities and skilled, dedicated colleagues that we have and are encouraging patients to ‘Ask for Newark’ with their GP and hospital teams to check if they can have their treatment there.”
Coun Susan Crosby, portfolio holder for Health, Wellbeing and Leisure at the council, added: “We know that many of our residents will find it much easier to park when visiting the hospital, which is particularly important when the new operating theatre opens.”
The car park, which is due to be completed in February 2024, brings the trust another step closer to finalising its vision of improving facilities at the hospital for the benefit of local residents.
Pictured are Coun Susan Crosby, portfolio holder for Health, Wellbeing and Leisure at Newark and Sherwood District Council, with David Ainsworth, director for Strategy and Partnership at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, on the site of the new car park.
