Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a medium sized acute hospital first established as an NHS Trust in 1993. We were authorised as a Foundation Trust on 1st November 2008. NHS foundation trusts are a fundamental part of the current NHS reform programme. They reflect the move from a centrally managed service towards one that is managed locally and so more responsive to patients.
The Trust provides healthcare services from two sites. Our facilities include:
420 beds
An A & E department
9 operating theatres
2 MRI scanners
Open MRI
2 CT scanners
A dedicated endoscopy suite
A modern breast care unit
Stroke facilities
A nationally renowned Simulation Training facility
In addition to the services located on the main site, the Trust provides a range of services from the Geoffrey Hodges wing on its Outwoods site. This includes inpatient beds within a 13 bed step down intermediate care facility.
During 2006 an Independent Treatment centre opened within the grounds of the main hospital and enabled the transfer of 7,500 day case from the existing hospital to the new facility.
The Trust employs approximately 2500 staff with an annual pay bill in the region of £80 million. Two thirds of staff are directly involved in treating patients (medical and dental, nursing and midwifery and healthcare assistants) with another 13% in a technical and scientific capacity.
We are the principal provider of acute hospital services for the residents of Burton upon Trent and surrounding areas. The trust serves a population of some 360,000.
Burton Hospitals provide a wide range of general hospital services and acts as entry point to specialist tertiary centres and key clinical networks. The trust also provides a range of consultant outreach services into local community settings.
History Of Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
** Hospital History **
How it all started
On a March evening in 1867, seven gentlemen associated with the brewing trade met in The Bank House, High Street, Burton on Trent, to discuss proposals for an infirmary in the town. The idea of building a hospital to serve local people had been mooted for some time, only now the sum of £450 was available, thanks to the legacy of a Mr Brough of Winshill.
Two-and-a-half years later, in October 1869, the original Burton Hospital was opened in Duke Street. The Infirmary and Dispensary had cost £2,300 to build and contained 22 beds, together with accommodation for nurses, domestics and the house surgeon.
Despite plans for an official opening by the Marquess of Anglessey - a hero of The Battle of Waterloo - circumstances conspired to prevent this. Instead, in the words of surgeon and hospital historian Robert Bewick: "There were no fanfares, no civic receptions and no Marquess; the Infirmary simply opened its doors".
A second infirmary was opened 30 years later, complete with 72 beds. Though of modest appearance, it contained every modern development of its day, including new casualty, outpatient and dispensary facilities.
In October 1942, during the World War II, Burton's third infirmary was opened at a cost of £167,000. The war not only restricted the new hospital's facilities (The only priority was beds - other accommodation had to wait) but it also affected staffing. Newly qualified doctors were allowed just six months in hospital before being called into war action.
(Picture to the left is the entrance to the now demolished General Hospital).
The fourth hospital - Burton District Hospital - was opened in June 1971 on our present Belvedere Road site, just 102 years after the original Infirmary came into being. According to Robert Bewick, the new development was based on the vision that "the complete hospital requirements for the people of Burton from birth to death could be sited at a single location."
It took a further 32 years for that vision to become reality. From 1971 to 1993 the district hospital in Belvedere Road, situated two miles north west of the town centre, comprised an outpatients department, accident and emergency, day treatment centre, orthopaedic wards and x-ray, together with maternity and care of the elderly services on the adjacent Outwoods site.
These were complemented by the remaining general hospital facilities in the town centre (now closed), which included the majority of inpatient medical, surgical, eye, and ear, nose and throat services.
In 1990, a £34 million capital development was commenced, to replace all the general hospital facilities and provide all district general services on a single, modern site. The result was the new Burton Hospital, completed and commissioned by the end of 1993, and opened officially by Her Majesty The Queen on December 7th 1995. The following year the hospital changed its name to Queen’s Hospital.
