A new modular ward to support the rehabilitation of stroke patients in west Cornwall is due to be installed in December.
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been given £3 million of government funding for the ward at Camborne and Redruth Community Hospital.
The interim unit will have a range of facilities. These will include areas for visiting, family meetings, speech and language therapy reviews, and meals away from patients' bedsides. The unit will also offer a therapy gym.
It will be in place while vital repair works are carried out on the existing Lanyon Ward. Patients will move across once the new ward has been connected to the main hospital by a covered walkway.
Sue Greenwood is the matron at Camborne and Redruth. She describes the unit as state of the art.
"It is essential that we continue to deliver rehabilitation to people who have suffered a stroke,” she said. “The unit will allow us to provide this critical service without disrupting care.
"It has got everything that you would want in a stroke rehabilitation unit so we are able to maintain the care and what you would expect if you were to be looked after on Lanyon Ward.
"You could not wish to be looked after in a better place. The modular units that we can have in the NHS now are really good and robust. They are a really lovely environment without the bricks around the outside.”
Work to install the modular ward will cause some disruption on site, including to parking. Sue is thanking staff for their patience and hard work.
"I am very lucky to have an amazingly, dedicated team of staff who provide really high quality care here at Camborne and Redruth Community Hospital," she said. "It is lovely to be able to reassure them that they are going into a unit that is going to support and continue all the great care that they deliver every day.”
Chief executive of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Debbie Richards is reassuring patients, visitors and staff.
"The start of this work marks a period of major investment and will provide us with more clinical capacity on this site for the future,” she said.
“The works will cause some disruption to staff, patients, and visitors to the site. However, we will do all we can to minimise the impact.
"We hope people will keep in mind the improvements we have already achieved on this site, with outpatients, diagnostics and the urgent treatment centre.
"We also hope they will welcome the marked improvement the works and investment will deliver to Camborne, Redruth, and the nearby communities. It is great to see more investment in some of our most deprived communities in the county we all love.”