Boss for Nuffield’s Manchester plans

Nuffield Health has appointed a market director to deliver its £60m new flagship hospital (Independent Practitioner Today, July/August 2014, page 2) and wellbeing services in Manchester.

Barbara Baker, formerly hospital director at the charity’s Derby hospital, will oversee the physical development of the site, which is situated adjacent to the Manchester Royal Infirmary, into a tertiary-level hospital and rehabilitation centre.

She will also be responsible for developing an integrated wellbeing programme designed to improve the health outcomes of those living and working in the Manchester region.

Nuffield Health purchased the former Elizabeth Gaskell Campus complex from Manchester Metropolitan University in July, and took possession of the site in September.

The five-acre site will provide scope for a wide range of facilities including rehabilitation and preventative health services.

The new hospital will support Nuffield Health’s other facilities in Manchester – including a planned health assessment centre in the recently acquired gym inside the city’s Printworks building in Withy Grove and the medical centre at Salford Quays.

She said a major part of her role was dedicated to working with and supporting consultants and health-related research at the city’s two universities.

Final designs for the hospital facilities are being developed and Nuffield Health expects to submit plans to Manchester City Council for approval in spring 2015.