The construction of Sunderland's new eye hospital has now reached its maximum height.
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00:00First bit of ground with our spades. Time's gone remarkably quickly.
00:30It is a bit of a landmark achievement. We've still got a lot of work to do. We won't complete
00:35if everything goes to schedule until 2026. But it's a significant mark in the sand for us as
00:42an organisation and I think for the city as well as part of the overall riverside development.
00:47And obviously I know the current night hospital's been around for a long time.
00:50Just how are the facilities here going to compare to the old hospital?
00:53Well we've had the old hospital as many people are aware now. It's been
00:58there since almost World War II. And whilst the service is by and large provided by the people
01:03and we've got some fantastic people at the eye hospital, the environment is well past its sell
01:08by date. So they'll be working in a much more appropriate and up-to-date environment and of
01:12course patients will also be getting a better experience when they come to receive that world
01:16class service. And excited for the opening in 2026? Well we've got this winter and next winter
01:22to get through yet but assuming that goes to plan then yes we are excited and cautiously
01:26optimistic now and we look forward to welcoming our first patients hopefully around Easter time in
01:312026.
01:46Okay obviously you work at the current eye hospital. So how exciting is it to be here
01:49today for the topping out ceremony to see how the new eye hospital is taking shape?
01:53It's extremely exciting I think for us to be able to see the progress from last year when we were on
01:58site to now. But also as well to be able to see the scale of the building, to be able to sort of look
02:04at the different departments because some of them are already marked out. So I think for us I think
02:08to be able to see how the new eye hospital will look is just very exciting for us. And while the
02:14current eye hospital's been around for quite some time, so just how are these new facilities going
02:18to compare and how is it going to make your job much easier to do? I think from a clinical
02:23perspective our staff are working in an outdated and very overcrowded and quite an old building
02:31although much a well-loved building. So they're looking forward to moving into a purpose-built
02:36facility that hopefully represents the excellent care that we give to our patients and it's what
02:44both our patients and our staff deserve moving forward. Obviously a big history of eye care here
02:50in Sunderland, just how much is this going to benefit you know people who do have issues with
02:54their eyes living in the city and even further afield? Even in the very early stages of the
02:59development the RNIB and our patients have been actively involved in all the planning stages.
03:06So this purpose-built building is specifically being designed for patients who have low vision
03:12so it's going to be light and airy where it needs to be, it's going to have contrasting colours, it's
03:18going to have a lot of open space which our patients often require especially if they're using
03:23some kind of air to move around. I think our patients will definitely benefit from this new
03:29facility. I think they'll regionally benefit as well because we'll have increased theatres as well
03:34within the new eye hospitals and larger rooms so that we should be able to help improve on our
03:39waiting times as well to be able to see patients sooner as well. And are you excited for 2026? Can't wait, can't wait, can't come soon enough!