Ref. 75545-87THE opening of a flagship £30 million treatment centre at Swindon's Great Western Hospital could be delayed due to a problem with panels on the building.

Bosses are confident the hi-tech building named the Brunel NHS Treatment Centre will still open in April and they are looking for the support staff to ensure it runs smoothly.

A problem with the cladding could delay the opening by up to three weeks although no operations have yet been booked.

The building is sited next to the A&E department and boasts 128 beds, five operating theatres and three wards.

More than 5,000 patients are to file through its doors each year, helping to further drive down hospital waiting times.

It will be used for routine surgery, like hip replacements and cataract surgery, freeing up the wards in the main hospital for emergency cases.

Developers Carillion Services, which also built GWH in 2002, have been building it.

Paula Manning, spokeswoman for Carillion, said: "Carillion can confirm that we have experienced some issues with blistering on the external cladding at Brunel NHS Treatment Centre which we are in the process of rectifying.

"We would like to stress this is a cosmetic issue which will not affect any aspect of the hospital's operations, patients, visitors or staff in any way."

She added that it was the trust's, not the company's, decision on whether the problem would delay the opening of the centre.

Chris Birdsall, hospital spokesman, said: "These delays are disappointing." But he added it was important these issues were resolved before the building was occupied.

He said patients will notice big improvements. "We are building for the future. Our goal is to more clearly separate elective surgery and emergency work," he said.

In the past, routine day surgery sessions have been cancelled to make way for life or death operations.

Mr Birdsall added: "This new treatment centre will vastly reduce incidents of patients on trolleys and operations having to be postponed at peak times when we have a lot of emergencies. This is a very exciting development it's a fantastic facility with all the state-of-the-art technology. It will be something that the town can take pride in."

Factfile

The centre is 26 metres high and is made of 680 tonnes of steel and 5,000 square metres of concrete

Some 500 miles of wiring has been installed that's enough to stretch from Swindon to Inverness.

Of the 128 beds, 20 will be reserved for private patients in a separate ward.

All beds will have access to Patientline an entertainment and communication system.

Around 350 staff will work at the centre bolstering GWH's workforce of 3,500.