Royal Preston Hospital is to spend almost £8m on rented accommodation just yards from its former site in a bid to ease chronic car parking congestion.
As part of a £29m shake-up, hospital chiefs will move staff into the Preston Business Centre in Watling Street Road, Fulwood, on a £520,000-a-year, 15-year lease.
Initially, around 100 workers from the disablement services centre will be re-located to the site next to the former Sharoe Green Hospital.
Both sites are owned by millionnaire businessman, Yousuf Bhailok. The hospital will recoup some of the rent it pays Mr Bhailok as it will be sub-letting office space to other local organisations.
Dennis Benson, chairman of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said moving all facilities to the main RPH site in 2004, coupled with a failure to secure planning permission for a new car park, was causing difficulties. The business centre includes around 400 parking spaces.
He said: "One weakness of the Royal Preston Hospital site is it's very, very congested. What should be a very reassuring visit becomes very stressful because of the environmental issues. We can go on moaning about it but we're not going to get planning permission so we have to move some of the services off."
He said other options had been considered, including moving to an industrial estate such as Red Scar, but that was rejected.
Owner Mr Bhailok, managing director of Adstock Investments Ltd, revealed talks had been going on with health chiefs for more than 12 months in a bid to secure the deal and plans were on the table to change the name of the business centre to Sharoe Green Building. The trust will now become landlords of the building which is also occupied by the Central Lancashire PCT and others.
He said: "I am delighted that the building has been taken by the NHS. Since May, I have kept it empty to let them sign up to the lease."
The move will be just one of the changes made in a major revamp of Preston and Chorley hospitals over the next 12 months to radically improve facilities and services.
Bosses at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble hospitals, have announced they will spend the £29m over the next year.
Read more about how the money will be spent in Wednesday's Lancashire Evening Post.>> A&E for children planned>> Hospitals earn £1.3m in parking feesThe full article contains 422 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
