Health Minister and MP for Charnwood, Edward Argar, has visited the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate to hear about the plans for the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) and see the proposed site with NRC Programme Director Miriam Duffy.
With plans to be open to patients by the Autumn of 2024, the NRC team are working very closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS to progress the project at pace.
Mr Argar was hosted and received an update briefing from Miriam Duffy, NRC Programme Director, and General Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman, Defence & National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) Programme Director.
The NRC is one of 48 hospitals that will be built by 2030, delivering state-of-the art healthcare facilities for patients and staff.
Minister for Health, Edward Argar, said:
“The new National Rehabilitation Centre will provide a state of the art facility for people who have experienced serious injuries, so they can receive expert care and rehabilitation, building on the huge success of the fantastic Defence establishment.
“I look forward to working closely with the National Rehabilitation Centre team to see this new hospital built as quickly as possible, as part of our plans to deliver 48 hospitals by 2030, backed by an initial £3.7 billion investment.”
Miriam Duffy, NRC Programme Director, said:
“We have a unique opportunity with the National Rehabilitation Centre because of the circumstances of this special site on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate and the way in which the original idea started with the 6th Duke of Westminster.
“A combination of philanthropy, clarity on the need for better clinical rehabilitation services, hard work and collaboration has brought us to the point today where we are on the cusp of something really special.
“It was excellent to host the Minister and we value his support in taking forward the National Rehabilitation Centre.”
When complete, the NRC will combine three things under one roof: patient care, Research & Development (R&D), and training and education.
It is envisaged that the NRC could be a national hub centre of excellence for clinical rehabilitation complemented, in time, by a network of regional rehabilitation centres following the successful model of the National Trauma Centre network which has been so effective at saving lives.
An outline business case (OBC) has been prepared and submitted to the NHS decision-making process.
Successful approval of the OBC will be the next step in proceeding towards construction while refining further elements of the overall proposition. A decision is anticipated in the autumn.
While the NRC Programme involves far more than a building – spanning R&D, training and education and a wide-ranging number of initiatives to improve clinical rehabilitation delivery – the physical building will be constructed on a site 400m from the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) which is operated by the MoD and began treating patients in 2018.
The NRC building will have 70 in-patient beds and include specialist gyms and treatment facilities.
Patients will also have access to and benefit from sharing some facilities within the Defence establishment plus from the estate itself which includes trim trails and the natural characteristics of the landscape setting – which is the reason the estate was selected to be purchased to create both a Defence and an NHS specialist rehabilitation capability.
Mr Argar visited the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate on Friday 6 August 2021.
