Hospital admin building will free up clinical space

North Devon District Hospital wants to build a two-storey building for administrative staff to free up space for clinical services in its main tower block.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has applied for planning permission to convert a redundant concrete structure on the eastern boundary of the Barnstaple hospital.

It will free up 630 square metres of space near the hospital’s boiler and facilities’ office.

The concrete bund which will form the base of the new building was once used to house oil tanks before these were decommissioned and removed.

Agents David Wilson Partnership said the proposal would provide the hospital with flexible space in an area which isn’t currently used.

The new building would be tucked into the sloped landscape to reduce its mass above ground, they said in an application to North Devon Council.

“This will make way for improving the hospital’s clinical facilities within the hospital itself which will be essential for the future needs of the local and wider North Devon community.”

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said the greatest risk to the hospital is future capacity.

It said that the significant number of administration staff needed to be housed on site but not directly next to patient-facing clinical care.

North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) was one of 40 of the country’s hospitals prioritised for investment by the government in 2020.

It is the most remote acute hospital in mainland England and many of its buildings are over 50 years old, which can result in challenges delivering care, the trust says.

Included in the hospital programme is new on-site staff accommodation (phase one), a new block delivering a range of acute care services (phase two) and refurbishment of the main tower to deliver in-patient ward-based accommodation (phase three).

It is expected that the final build will take place in the latter half of the decade.