Hospital has asupporting role

Ilkeston Community Hospital will continue to play a role in supporting displaced patients as the future of nearby Heanor Memorial Hospital is decided.
Ilkeston Community HospitalIlkeston Community Hospital
Ilkeston Community Hospital

The Heanor health facility is facing a crisis after asbestos was found in the building on Ilkeston Road.

The initial discovery was made in the boiler room last September, which forced some services, including a blood clinic, to be transferred to Ilkeston hospital on Heanor Road.

But since then more asbestos has been found.

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All this led to a public meeting in Heanor last week which attracted 300 people.

The gathering was told that refurbishing the 1925 building or rebuilding it were among the options.

But both of these would be costly and neither would be a short-term solution — meaning either way Ilkeston hospital may need to continue to offer support.

The meeting heard that if all the asbestos were to be removed, this operation would cost £850,000.

To rebuild could cost in the region of £1.6 million.

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Several commitments were made by Andy Layzell, chief officer of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust.

The first was that health services will remain in Heanor and he announced plans to move the blood clinic currently operating in Ilkeston to Wilmot Street, Heanor.