Leighton Hospital

Leighton Hospital is a 540-bed hospital located to the northwest of the town of Crewe in the county of Cheshire, England. It is managed by the Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

History
Built at a cost of £6 million, Leighton Hospital was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in May 1972. It replaced older facilities at Crewe District Memorial Hospital, Crewe Works Hospital (built by the London and North Western Railway Company), the Linden Grange Maternity Hospital and Coppenhall Hospital in Crewe, and Nantwich Cottage Hospital and the Barony Hospital in Nantwich.

In June 2018 the hospital was recognised with a national award for patient experience.

An inspection in November 2019 resulted in the hospital being rated "good" overall, and "requires improvement" in the "safe" category by the Care Quality Commission.

Redevelopment
The Guardian newspaper noted that a 2020 proposal to rebuild Leighton Hospital was not funded by HM Treasury during Rishi Sunak's term as Chancellor of the Exchequer, despite a "catastrophic" grade of risk and a warning that an incident was "likely". In September 2021, a bid was submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care to fund a £663 million redevelopment of the hospital. Materials used in its original construction, particularly reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) panels in the roof and walls, had resulted in significant spending to resolve safety risks. A new build was estimated to be around £100 million cheaper than the continued refurbishment. In February 2023, Leighton Hospital was reported to be at risk of 'collapsing without warning' due to the use of RAAC planks across more than 60% of its site footprint. The planks' lifespan was 30 years, but the hospital was now over 50 years old. On 25 May 2023 it was confirmed that the hospital would be rebuilt.

In May 2024, consultant Gleeds was appointed as project manager for the redevelopment, now valued at over £700m. Neighbouring plots of land totalling 24 acre had been purchased to enable construction of the new hospital campus.