IT'S taken more than six years of planning but work will finally begin on Blackburn's £100 million single site hospital at Queen's Park on Monday.

Health reporter Roger Airey found out just what the new state-of-the-art building will include for patients...

IT'S a far cry from the tired Victorian buildings of Blackburn Infirmary, complete with all their limitations and problems.

And bosses are determined the new single site hospital at Queen's Park will bring facilities for patients well into the 21st century.

The finished article, expected in the summer of 2006 when BRI will close, will bring a whole host of improvements for patients and staff alike -- what you would expect really, given the level of investment in the public/private venture between the hospital trust and developers Balfour Beatty.

Roughly doubling the amount of space currently available at Queen's Park, the money is mainly being spent on an massive extension which will complement the existing building.

Chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals John Thomas said: "This is an historic and auspicious occasion.

"This is the most exciting project to be undertaken in hospitals locally since the inception of the NHS in 1948. Our new hospital will provide modern 'state of the art' facilities from which we can continue to serve the people of East Lancashire.

"The mention of a single hospital in Blackburn was first discussed in the 70s. At that stage it was only a dream. I want to extend thanks and congratulations to everyone who has been involved in ensuring that the dream will now become a reality."

Given the age of Blackburn Infirmary, and its piecemeal development over the years, several anomalies in patient care have arisen which the new building and its 668 extra beds will cure.

Single site project manager Jackie Hadwen, who has worked on the plans since 1997, said the new building would be more user-friendly in many ways.

She said: "Simple things to help patients such as having opthamology eye doctors and the chest clinic, which usually treat patients with mobility problems, close to the main entrance."

And patient privacy is a high priority. Around 33 per cent of the new beds will be single rooms, compared to less than ten per cent currently, and all four beds wards will all have en-suite bathroom facilities.

The new accident and emergency department will be able to cope with 70,000 admissions a year -- twice as many as the cramped conditions at BRI which have to cope with around 65,000 cases a year.

BRI is currently used for nearly all surgery but 11 new surgery suites are being built at Queen's Park to take the total up to 14. There will be also be 20 intensive care and high dependency beds in a new ward, only a handful more than at present but an expansion in critical care nonetheless.

And old-style X-rays will be a thing of the past as the hospital becomes 'filmless'.

X-rays will be taken digitally and stored on computers and can be pulled up on high resolution viewing stations throughout the hospital.

The picture archive and communicationsystem will end the need for patients' files to be transported from the central records to wards.

The purpose built 16-room radiology department will replace the existing radiology departments on both sites. Radiology services manager,Alex Shepherd said: "The staff have taken an active interest in the planning of this exciting development and are looking forward to moving in and commissioning the new department."

As well as new construction, there will be millions spent on refurbishment of the current building, not least the creation of an integrated children's ward in line with the Royal College of Paediatricians recommendations.

Currently, the surgical ward is at BRI and the medical ward at Queen's Park meaning children have to be transferred after surgery which can be distressing for parents.

Dr Karl Rakshi, consultant paediatrician and clinical director said of the planned new Children's Unit, said: "The single site development will enable us to combine all newborn/children medical and surgical services onto one site which will improve the quality of care we are able to deliver to children and their families."

When all work is transferred to the new single site, it will eliminate the need for 16,000 transfers of children and adults by ambulance between the two sites every year. Great leaps are also being made in heart care, one of East Lancashire's major health problems with the inclusion of a new cardiac catheter laboratory.

Jackie Hawden added: "This is a very important new development. It means fewer patients will have to travel to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for simple procedures such as check-ups on pacemakers. It will also be used for diagnostic work currently done elsewhere."