THE transformation of the Royal Oldham Hospital from a failing institution into a hub for complex surgery along with a £28 million extension will come under review on Tuesday (October 13).

It's improvement from a hospital deemed to be "inadequate" by the Care Quality Commission in 2016 to one in 2019 where 92 per cent of its services were either good or outstanding with be laid out before up to 14 members of Oldham Council's health scrutiny sub committee.

According to the report, ongoing major investment into the hospital and its services will "unlock key improvements" to patient care across the town.

This follows the approval in August of a £28 million four-storey extension to the Royal Oldham.

It will incorporate two new 24 bedded general surgery wards as well as a new emergency theatre, within the current theatres unit with supporting accommodation, enhanced recovery area and central storage, allowing the hospital to operate as the specialist hub site for high risk and emergency general and colorectal surgery, for the north east of Greater Manchester.

The new facility will sit adjacent to the main hospital building, on the site of K Block, which will be demolished as part of the works.

The building will provide accommodation over four floors, with pedestrian access, plant space and future expansion space.

Public consultation on the new build took place in November 2019, and a main contractor for the capital works, IHP, has been selected. Once started, it is anticipated that the programme of works will take 20 to 24 months to complete.

The hospital's move towards becoming hub for more complex surgery will meanwhile mean that less complex work may be moved to other sites within the Northern Care Alliance, which Oldham also comes under.

The aspiration to "have a good quality, sustainable specialist and hospital services for the future we need to continue to improve services for patients across Oldham," is highlighted in the report which will be presented to councillors.

The aim is to "create a system where patients are consistently receive good quality and safe treatment under the right clinical team, in the most clinically appropriate setting, first time, every time, as part of an integrated care pathway."

And it says that any significant service changes will be subject to commissioner-led public consultations, for which strong evidence of patient benefits and assurances around access will be critical.

In addition to the extension other investment into the Oldham hospital includes an £87 million to upgrade standards and care and clear a backlog of maintenance.

Some £20 million on stabilisation and improvement to the hospital's information management and technology systems and a further £8 million is to be invested in Oldham and North Manchester General Hospital's energy schemes.

The sub committee will also be told of the "profound consequences" of the coronavirus pandemic and that it will "impact the need to work flexibly".

"We are planning and working differently from business as usual as a result of the pandemic and health care emergency," the report says.

"We have implemented IPC management and biosecurity measures which puts additional pressure on the Oldham site. This is offset, in part, by moving elective pathways to other Northern Care Alliance sites.

"We are developing a recovery plan with partners across the Oldham system to overcome the challenges created by the pandemic."