WORK has started on a major new £15 million scheme which will transform critical care facilities and provide extra ward space at Airedale Hospital.

The state-of-the-art provision at the Steeton site will include a 15-bed high dependency unit and 30-bed general acute ward.

Healthcare design-and-build contractor Darwin Group Ltd is carrying out the work, which is scheduled for completion next March.

The new accommodation is being built on a steep, sloping site and will be connected to an existing hospital corridor at ground-floor level.

An under-croft space, on the lower ground floor, will house the plant room.

Darwin Group says its in-house management team is working closely with Airedale NHS Foundation Trust – and the estates and facilities subsidiary, AGH Solutions – to ensure minimal disruption to hospital services and site facilities during construction.

Large parts of the new development will be manufactured at the group's factory and then brought onsite.

Charles Pierce, Darwin Group's managing director, said: "Our team is made-up of in-house professionals who have a proven track record of delivering a bespoke, high-quality service – covering all stages of the project, from planning and design to construction and landscaping.

“We are proud to have delivered some fantastic NHS buildings and we are thrilled to add this latest project to our portfolio. The initial designs for the building look great.”

David Moss – managing director of AGH Solutions, on behalf of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust – said: “We are pleased that our building works are beginning and that Darwin Group is working with us on this project.

“It will make a real difference to both our patients and our staff and I am looking forward to seeing the building take shape.”

Victoria Pickles, director of corporate affairs at the trust, says the development is part of wider work being carried out following a national safety alert over aerated concrete – which forms a large part of the current hospital structure.

“We are working with regional and national colleagues to address the risk posed by the concrete construction,” she said.

“As part of this we have embarked on a programme of remedial works which includes the construction of a new home for our critical care unit and additional ward space.

“The new development will be a modern critical care facility providing a better environment for our patients and staff, as well as giving us increased ward space, while we continue to work with NHS England and the Department for Health on a long-term plan for the regeneration of Airedale.”