Work starts on Newark Hospital car park extension

The car park has been made possible due to a partnership between Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Newark Hospital, and Newark and Sherwood District Council. The District Council purchased the land on Bowbridge Road with the intention of converting it into additional hospital car parking in its bid to ensure residents have access to even more health care provision locally.

There are currently 170 pay and display spaces plus 20 spaces for blue badge holders in the main Newark Hospital car park. The new car park, which will have electric charging points, will provide parking for staff on site which will free up spaces in the main car park for patients and visitors.

David Ainsworth, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, said: “It’s exciting to see all our plans for Newark Hospital come to fruition and I’m very grateful to the team at Newark and Sherwood District Council. The additional parking spaces will make it so much easier for patients and visitors to visit the site and I hope it will encourage more people to elect to have their treatment or procedure at the hospital.”

The car park, which is due to open in February 2024, is just one part of the Trust’s plan to maximise the potential of Newark Hospital and ensure it is a valued and vibrant community asset. More than £5m has been invested in the site since 2020.

A state-of-the-art operating theatre and recovery area is set to open next month (November). Known as the Newark Elective Hub, the new facility means up to 2,600 extra operations and procedures will be able to take place at the hospital each year.

David continued: “When the new theatre opens, we will have the capacity to carry out more operations and procedures than ever before at Newark Hospital. We want to make full use of the fantastic facilities and skilled, dedicated colleagues that we have and are encouraging patients to ‘Ask for Newark’ with their GP to check if they can have their treatment there.”

Councillor Susan Crosby, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Leisure at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “I am delighted that the District Council has been able to facilitate the expansion of the car park at Newark Hospital allowing for additional services to be introduced. We know that many of our residents will find it much easier to park when visiting the hospital which is particularly important when the new operating theatre opens.

“While I am delighted that the hospital is able to expand its range of services, I am committed to ensuring that I push, as hard as possible, for more vital services at Newark Hospital, including overnight emergency provision. I care passionately about the health and wellbeing of our district’s residents and will do all I can to ensure that they receive the best possible health care provision without needing to travel outside of the district to do so.”

The car park is due to be completed by February 2024 and brings the Trust another step closer to finalising its vision of improving facilities at the hospital for the benefit of local residents.