Town’s residents turn out for hospital naming referendum

Health chiefs had to revise their plans following an outcry over the naming of the £22m development to replace the original Selby War Memorial Hospital which was built in 1927 with a new facility.

So instead of Selby Community Hospital, for which there were only 116 votes, the New Selby War Memorial Hospital it is – with an overwhelming 1,713 votes.

Steve Shaw-Wright, a district councillor and leader of Selby Town Council, said: “I am really pleased. There’s not much heritage in Selby, there’s no cenotaph for example and so this decision means a lot.”

Alan Rose, chairman of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’d like to thank all those who took the trouble to vote for their preferred name for the new Selby hospital. We have a clear winner.

“By adopting The New Selby War Memorial Hospital, we not only recognise the war memorial legacy in the name, but we also acknowledge that this is a new development replacing the old hospital.

“We now look forward to moving staff and patients into this fantastic new hospital in June.

“This is an exciting milestone in the integration of hospital and community services in the Selby and York area.”

Jayne Brown, chief executive of NHS North Yorkshire and York, said: “We were so moved by the depth of feeling in Selby that we wanted to give people a chance to have their say.

“We are very much aware of the importance of the war memorial legacy in the hospital’s history, and we will soon be publishing details of how we plan to preserve and recognise this in addition to the new name.”

The construction of the new hospital in Selby was part of the Selby Community Project – an innovative partnership between NHS North Yorkshire and York and Selby District Council.

The two organisations have been working together on the scheme which will see a new community hospital and civic centre built on Doncaster Road in the town.

The new hospital will become operational in June and Selby District Council staff will relocate to the adjoining Civic Centre in August.