New £10m hospital unit set to go ahead – despite loss of parking and traffic concerns

Plans for a new imaging unit to be built at York Hospital are set to be approved – at City of York Council’s first virtual planning meeting.

The flagship £10m vascular imaging unit would be used by patients from across North and East Yorkshire.

And a report says the department would carry out procedures including diagnosing problems with blood flow such as aneurysms, and the insertion of balloons, stents and pace makers.

But the plans would see the number of staff parking spaces at the hospital reduced by 100 – and council traffic bosses have raised concerns about the impact on traffic on Wigginton Road.

Temporary extra staff parking has been agreed on the Bootham Park Hospital site – but only for a year according to the council report. And the highways department has asked for a travel plan to look at the issues.

100 spaces lost

The report says: “At present, there are 611 marked parking spaces on the site for staff. This number will be reduced to 461 during the construction phase and to 511 once the building is finished and open.

“However on balance it is considered that the benefit of the vascular unit for the population for the wider area would outweigh the harm to the traffic congestion and parking displacement.”

The building is set to be one of the trust’s biggest capital investments for many years and will help meet the need for vascular procedures.

It would take about 18 months to build and feature two additional cardio-vascular laboratories, recovery facilities, a hybrid operating theatre and an expanded post-surgical patient recovery facility.

Benefit to health

Planning officers have recommended the project is approved, saying it would “expand the hospital capacity and benefit the health of the wider population”.

The report says: “The proposal would also result in visual harm and would likely result in further disruption and congestion to the neighbouring road network.

“However the proposal would provide a purpose built vascular unit which would expand the hospital capacity and benefit the health of the wider population of the city and surrounding areas.”

The planning meeting takes place on May 21 at 10.30am and can be watched on the council’s YouTube channel.