Plans to scrap 100-year-old wards

Patients and staff hate the old-fashioned cramped wards

Plans to rebuild an East Midlands hospital have been drawn up at a cost of £400m.

As other hospitals in the region are already being revamped, Nottingham City Hospital plans to demolish old-fashioned wards dating back 100 years.

There are currently 10 open plan Nightingale wards at Nottingham City Hospital, with around 30 beds each.

They are so cramped patients can touch the next bed - and managers want to get rid of them.

"All the beds are close together - there is no dignity, there is no privacy" Andrea Hopewell, patient

Cardiothoracic nurse Debi Clarke-Whitfield said: "There is not enough room around the bed for us to even help to patients to stand up and get a wash basin if they need it."

Many patients have welcomed plans for at least half the beds in the new hospital to be in private rooms.

Andrea Hopewell, a heart patient staying in a Nightingale ward, said: "All the beds are close together - there is no dignity, there is no privacy.

"Every conversation you have with somebody, other people can hear what's going off."

Hospital rebuilt

There is currently an £18m backlog of repairs at the site.

Nottingham City Hospital's chief executive Gerry McSorley said: "Many of our wards are very old, you can't really refurbish them, and even if we did, we have got facilities and services all over the hospital site.

"They are in the wrong place, so the idea of bringing them together, in modern facilities is a key issue for us."

Under the new proposals, the main hospital would be demolished and a new complex built to replace it.

The Treasury is expected to fund the development next year.

But the new hospital on spare land at the site will not be ready until at least 2010.