Revised plans for Sunderland Eye Hospital

Revised plans have been submitted for Sunderland Eye Hospital, which look to extend its facilities to help tackle NHS waiting lists after the major impact of the pandemic.An application for the £36m NHS facility, part of the Riverside Sunderland scheme, was backed in November.The hospital will replace the existing Sunderland Eye Infirmary facilities on Queen Alexandra Road, which are now more than 75 years old.It will also mean that Sunderland will remain home to the region’s only standalone eye hospital, and one of the few specialist centres for ophthalmology care in the NHS.The previously approved scheme comprises 105,141 sq ft across a four-storey hospital building, with an additional energy centre and a cycle hub.Amended plans, submitted to Sunderland City Council, said that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a “major impact on NHS England and the services it provides”.Specifically, many planned treatments had to be postponed, leading to long waiting lists.The council, in collaboration with the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, launched a feasibility study which “looked at the options to increase cataract treatment capacity in order to address the issue of backlog in elective surgeries”.Following this, extra accommodation is now proposed on the third and fourth floors, bringing the total floorspace for the hospital to 119,490 sq ft.The energy centre will also be expanded to 4,693 sq ft.Altogether, the hospital will accommodate 342 staff by 2030, which is a maximum increase of 30 from the approved scheme.The plans for the hospital have been developed by the Council with a team including North East architects Ryder and Turner and Townsend Project Management.It is estimated that site mobilisation will start around April 2023, with construction expected to last about two years.The new hospital will stand alongside The Beam; City Hall, and two further commercial properties that are being developed as part of Legal and General’s £100m commitment to Riverside Sunderland.