Hereford County Hospital is an acute general hospital on Stonebow Road in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

. It is managed by

Wye Valley NHS Trust Wye Valley NHS Trust was established in 2011 by a merger of Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust with Herefordshire PCT community services and Herefordshire Council’s Adult Social Care services. It runs Hereford County Hospital, Bromyard Community Ho ...

History

The foundation stone for Hereford County Hospital was laid in 1937 by Queen Mary. It was built adjacent to the site of the Public Assistance Institute. By 1946 the County Hospital provided 142 beds of which 25 were maternity beds. A new hospital was procured in 1999 under a

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 19 ...

contract to replace the old Hereford County Hospital, the Hereford General Hospital and the Victoria Eye Hospital. The new hospital, which was designed by WS Atkins and built by

Alfred McAlpine Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll (as part of the CAMBBA consortium). It was listed on the ...

at a cost of £62 million, opened in 2002. At the time concerns were expressed that the new hospital was too small to replace the facilities which were being lost. Consequently an additional ward, the Gilwern Assessment Unit, opened on the site in December 2015 providing an acute geriatric assessment unit. This was followed by a 24 bed medical assessment unit in November 2018. In 2020 construction began on a new three storey block to replace the ageing Nightingale style Canadian Huts built in the aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The new facility will provide 72 new inpatient beds and allow the hutted wards to be demolished. Concurrent works to expand the intensive care bed base from six to eight beds were also commenced. In all the new works will expand the bed base to approximately 272 by 2021.

Facilities

The hospital has 236 beds. The site also houses the Stonebow Mental Health hospital which includes a psychiatric ward named after

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and ...

, a Swedish

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

singer. Facilities management services are provided by

Sodexo Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance) is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 412,088 employees as of 2021, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million custom ...

Kier Group Kier Group plc is a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, and the Private Finance Initiative. Founded in 1928 in Stoke-on-Trent it initially specialised in concrete enginee ...

has a contract for a £40m programme of reconfiguration works at the hospital.

References

{{authority control 1937 establishments in England Hospitals established in 1937 Hospital buildings completed in 2002 Hospitals in Herefordshire NHS hospitals in England