Ref. 30763-32Thousands more patients will be treated in Swindon when a new centre opens next spring.

The £30m building, which has been named The Brunel NHS Treatment Centre, is a hive of activity as architects, builders, electricians and plumbers work on the five-storey establishment which is next to the Great Western Hospital.

With 128 beds, five operating theatres and three wards, the centre will be used for elective surgery, like hip replacements and cataract surgery, freeing up the wards in the main hospital for emergency cases and cutting waiting times.

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which will run the Brunel Centre, said there was no chance of operations being postponed to make way for emergencies because the centre would be specifically designed for planned surgery.

The centre, which will cost £15.8m a year to run, will treat 5,500 patients annually, and most patients will get an operation date within six weeks of referral.

It is being erected by Carillion Services, the Trust's private sector partners who also built the hospital and who provide facilities including security, catering and maintenance.

Andy Jones, project manager for Carillion, said: "From the outside it looks really good but there's still quite a bit to do inside.

"But we are on track to finish by January.

"The wards are large and airy and afford brilliant views of the Wiltshire countryside from the windows.

"One of the final steps will be to cover all the walls with a germ-resistant coating, and then the flooring will go in."

Mr Jones added that 500 miles of wiring would be incorporated in the design enough to stretch from Swindon to Edinburgh.

The building will be 26m high and is made of 680 tonnes of steel and 5,000 square metres of concrete.

The lower ground floor will form the reception area with a caf and vending machines.

The ground floor will house 20 private beds, while the first floor is where the operations will take place.

Above that, on floor two and three, are the wards.

A water theme will run throughout the centre.

Chris Birdsall, spokesman for the hospital, said: "It will make a huge difference with another 128 beds in the system. It will take away a lot of problems we've had with people on trolleys.

"It is important to make clear to people that it is an NHS centre with 20 private beds. People chose to go private for a range of different reasons. But with waiting lists coming down the gap between private and NHS is getting much smaller."

Fact File

128 beds, of which 20 are private in a separate ward

33 per cent will be single rooms

All beds will have access to Patientline entertainment and communications systems.

There will be five operating theatres

Around 350 staff will work there compared to 3,500 in the GWH

The reception area will have a caf and vending machines

It will have its own car park

It is connected to the GWH although the Brunel Treatment Centre but also has its own dedicated entrance on ground level

Alex Emery