Wythenshawe Hospital

History

The present Wythenshawe Hospital developed on the site of the former Baguley Sanatorium, which opened on 4 October 1902. It became a 150-bed sanatorium for the sole treatment of tuberculosis patients in 1912. The idea of Wythenshawe Hospital was initially discussed in 1939. An Emergency Medical Services hospital – consisting of rows of wooden huts – was constructed and used to treat soldiers who had been injured or burned. This was the foundation of the hospital's specialisation in burns and plastic surgery. The hospital was substantially developed in the 1960s as part of Enoch Powell's 1962 Hospital Plan.

The 35 year private finance initiative contract for Wythenshawe Hospital, signed in 1998, was one of the earliest in the NHS. The hospital was designed by WS Atkins, built by Alfred McAlpine at a cost of £113 million and opened in 2001. Facilities management services are provided by Sodexo.

The contract provided for stepped payments – charges were low initially but rise steeply between 2015 and 2023 falling again in the last 10 years of the contract. This has put the Trust under considerable financial pressure and a financial recovery plan has been imposed by Monitor. In June 2014, the Trust was forced to borrow £25 million from the Department of Health in order to meet the increased repayment.

Current services

Wythenshawe Hospital was a founding member of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre and a teaching hospital of Manchester Medical School.

It is still a centre of expertise in respiratory disease and the North West Lung Centre houses the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre and the UK National Aspergillosis Centre. It has established a successful rapid access programme for pulmonary investigations and diagnosis so that nearly half of patients are now starting treatment within 28 days.

References

References

1. "Facts and figures – the daily life of UHSM".
2. "Wythenshawe WS (includes history of Baguley Sanatorium)".
3. "History of UHSM". University Hospital of South Manchester.
4. "Hospital Development : 1948-1968".
5. "Heath Book". WS Atkins.
6. (20 August 1998). "£113M Wythenshawe Hospital development". New Civil Engineer.
7. (15 May 2002). "Memorandum by South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust". House of Commons.
8. (11 December 2013). "Probe launched into University Hospital of South Manchester finances". BBC.
9. (24 June 2014). "Manchester trust secures £25m loan to support PFI debts". Health Service Journal.
10. "Healthcare services". MAHSC.
11. 15:24, 14 DEC 2012Updated18:15, 10 JAN 2013. (14 December 2012). "Wythenshawe Hospital opens £2.4m clinical research centre". Manchester Evening News.
12. 10:47, 19 MAY 2014Updated10:51, 19 MAY 2014. (2014-05-19). "Huge heart surgery boost for Manchester as Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe hospitals join forces". Manchester Evening News.
13. (2013-06-25). "Multi million deal with Medtronic puts Wythenshawe Hospital at the heart of cardiac care". Messenger Newspapers.
14. 08:44, 16 APR 2015Updated08:47, 16 APR 2015. (2015-04-16). "Thousands of women could avoid breast cancer radiotherapy thanks to groundbreaking discovery". Manchester Evening News.
15. (10 April 2019). "Improving survival rates for lung cancer patients". Health Service Journal.