Inverclyde Royal Hospital is set for a £1.85m theatre revamp

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde say a design team has been appointed to carry out a refit, with the upgrading of two wards to support the new activity.

This follows a decision in 2019 to send the most seriously ill trauma patients to new units set up at Paisley's RAH and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, with the removal of emergency orthopaedics at Inverclyde.

The IRH will instead be used to carry out elective orthopaedic surgery, with the A&E remaining open for all other cases.

Melanie McColgan, director of the Clyde Sector at NHS GGC, said: “This investment will allow us to increase the number of planned operations at Inverclyde Royal Hospital, supporting our aspirations to have IRH established as an elective centre of excellence for orthopaedic surgery.

"This will bring huge benefits for patients who may require life-changing procedures such as hip or knee replacements.

"This investment, once again, shows our commitment to IRH as both an emergency hospital and a centre of excellent community healthcare services.

"In the last decade, we have invested £46 million on improvements across Inverclyde Royal Hospital.”

In a report sent to the local health and social care committee, the board outlined all the activity currently at Inverclyde Royal and set out planned investments for the future.

Pre-construction work has now commenced on the £1.8m project and site work will start as soon as it is practical and safe to do so given Covid-19 restrictions.

There has been heavy criticism of the health board in recent months, sparked over concerns about the future of the IRH following changes to intensive care which see patients sent to Glasgow.

It followed the trauma shake-up which was part of a Scottish Government plan to improve outcomes for the most seriously injured patients.

This involved creating four major trauma centres, but the health board say six out of 10 patients will be sent back to the IRH to continue their recovery within three days.

The recent furore over ICU led to the establishment of a cross party working group of councillors being set up in a bid to safeguard services.

Councillors requested a full report on everything currently carried out at the hospital.

The health board's reply outlines that Inverclyde Royal currently has 284-beds and is classed as a district general hospital.

It serves a population of approximately 125,000 residents, which includes people on the Isle of Bute, the Cowal Peninsula and North Ayrshire.

Services delivered from the site include A&E and a critical care floor and outpatient clinics, together with a range of general medical, surgical and orthopaedics inpatient beds.

It also has the adjacent Larkfield Unit, a five ward annexe which provides medicine for the elderly and stroke acute services together with rehabilitation facilities for adults with physical disability.

Also on the site is the £7.3m adult and older people’s continuing care hospital, Orchard View, which has 42 beds, 30 of which are dedicated to continuing care for older people.