Friendly faces to promote new hospital

JOSHUA Lindley, five, and his family are the face of a local hospital campaign.

Joanne Kendall, her son Joshua, and her partner David Brattan all feature in a bus advert to raise awareness of the first services opening at the new Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield.

Joshua, five, has cerebral palsy quadriplegia and regularly uses the hospital for his care.

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Miss Kendall, from Wakefield, said: "The new hospital is fantastic and much needed. There's nothing wrong with the old one as I think it's the people that make a hospital but it's great to have new, fresh facilities on our doorstep.

"We come to the hospital every week so the environment is really important. It almost doesn't feel like a hospital as it's really welcoming. And it's great that it's been designed with everything in one place which makes things so much easier."

The adverts, featuring staff, patients and visitors, are part of a wider campaign to let people know the long-awaited facility has opened its doors.

The new hospital is part of a 300m hospital redevelopment project being paid for under the Government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI). lt is being financed by Consort Healthcare, and it will take Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 30 years to pay for it.

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As well as a new children's centre, a number of other services have also opened in the new hospital including the rehabilitation department, the regional spinal injuries centre, the neurology and stroke unit and the specialist neuro rehabilitation ward.

More outpatient services are planned and the hospital is expected to be fully open for inpatients by January 2011.

Julia Squire, chief executive of the Trust, said last night: "Our patients will not only benefit from state-of-the-art modern facilities but will have faster access to their care and treatment because the new building has been designed to accommodate the latest technology and innovations in healthcare."

Alongside the hospital in Dewsbury, it is hoped the new Pinderfields hospital, together with a new Pontefract hospital will help transform local patient care.

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It is planned the new Pinderfields Hospital will provide comprehensive care for all patients, including the most seriously ill, while the new Pontefract Hospital focuses on patients who are less seriously in need.

Dr Karen Stone, consultant paediatrician, said yesterday: "The hospital is airy with lots of room for children to play and see doctors, nurses and therapists. There's also an outside space which is safe and enclosed if they prefer to wait and play outside."