THE goal of achieving a single site district general hospital moves a step closer next week when a turf cutting ceremony will take place to celebrate a new £7.25 million development scheme .

The development - Phase Four of an improvement strategy at Queen's Park Hospital - will accommodate two wards for general medicine and rheumatology patients and two further wards for elderly rehabilitation patients.

There will also a rehabilitation department including hydrotherapy pool and additional X-ray facilities.

The work, which has recently commenced, will take 18 months to complete. The new accommodation is expected to open in May 1998 when services will transfer from the old E wards at Queen's Park Hospital.

Park Lee Hospital will then be closed with the exception of the East Lancashire Hospice and the Community Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit.

In addition to providing an improvement in the environmental quality, Phase Four will allow Rheumatology Services to expand in Blackburn using the new Rehabilitation Department, with the result that fewer local people will need to travel to other hospitals for treatment.

It will also bring together all the General Medicine and Elderly Rehabilitation Wards together in the same building reducing the number of patients transfers between sites, providing much better communications and a reduction in the workload of juniors doctors.

John Thomas, chief executive of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust, said: "Phase Four brings us further towards achieving the goal of a single site District General Hospital. The new, improved facilities will greatly enhance the services we provide to patients."

The turf cutting will be held on Tuesday, September 3 at 2.30pm.

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