More services move in to new RUH building

The move of staff and services from the Mineral Water Hospital site in Bath steps up a gear this weekend (7 and 8 September) when Rheumatology Services and Rheumatology Therapies transfer to the nearby Royal United Hospital's Combe Park site.

They will join colleagues from the Bath Centre for Fatigue Services, which moved from the Min a week earlier, and RUH Therapies and Pain Services at the new RNHRD and Brownsword Therapies Centre at the RUH.

Dr Ellie Korendowych, Clinical Lead for Rheumatology, said: "Obviously there's some sadness at moving from the Min, which is a much-loved building. But this is an exciting time and what's important is that we'll be moving into a brand new, purpose-built home and providing the same high-quality care, with the same teams, for our patients."

Other staff and services housed at the Min – including clinical measurement, research and development, chronic pain and complex cancer rehabilitation – will move to the RUH site over the next few months.

This new RNHRD and Brownsword Therapies Centre is close to the main entrance of the RUH. It is an outpatient centre providing treatment, care and education for patients to recover from episodes of illness or injury, or to manage their long-term condition.

The new building includes a large hydrotherapy pool, group rooms, specialist gyms with rehabilitation equipment, and a biologics treatment space. The new Centre has been specially designed to make use of natural light as well as garden areas and art to create a nurturing environment for all who use the building.

The Trust's Forever Friends Appeal is raising a minimum of £2m towards this project in association with the RNHRD Charitable Fund – with the Brownsword Charitable Foundation challenging the public to back the appeal by generously promising to match every pound donated up to the level of £1m.

ENDS

Notes to Editor

• The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust provides acute treatment and care for a catchment population of around 500,000 people in Bath, and the surrounding towns and villages in North East Somerset and Western Wiltshire. The hospital provides healthcare to the population served by four Clinical Commissioning Groups: Bath & North East Somerset CCG, Wiltshire CCG, Somerset CCG and South Gloucestershire CCG.
• The Trust has 759 beds and a comprehensive range of acute services including medicine and surgery, services for women and children, accident and emergency services, and diagnostic and clinical support services.
• In 2015 The Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust acquired the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) NHS Foundation Trust. The RNHRD treats patients from across the country offering services in rheumatology, chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, cancer related fatigue and fatigue linked to other long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
• The RUH is changing - we have an exciting programme of redevelopment underway transforming our site and further improving the services we provide. The Trust has opened the purpose-built RNHRD and Brownsword Therapies Centre and is now working towards the new Dyson Cancer Centre. For more details visit: www.ruh.nhs.uk/fit4future

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