THE construction of modern accommodation for staff at North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) has begun but waiting another decade for the clinical care facilities to be upgraded is “far too long”, says the district’s MP.

Liberal Democrat MP Ian Roome has been championing the need for theatre capacity and intensive care to double and 50-year-old buildings to be replaced since he was elected in 2024.

But the hospital’s crumbling infrastructure is expected to hold out until at least 2035 which is when the final phase of the government’s new hospitals programme takes place. Twenty-five other new hospitals in the country will take priority over NDDH.

Mr Roome said the new £22.7 million accommodation block would be a boost for the staff and students who played “such a vital role” in delivering care and help the trust attract and support the workforce it needed.

“It marks an important early step in the wider new hospital plans for the site and my thanks go to the hospital team for making this possible and to all the hardworking staff who deserve modern, fit-for-purpose accommodation.

“In parliament, I will continue pressing the government to bring forward the remaining funding needed for the next stages of the project.

“The government says it won’t be delivered until after 2035. This is far too long to wait. Our hospital was built for a different time and a much smaller population, and staff and patients cannot be expected to continue working with outdated infrastructure.”

The new solar-roof residences, named “Taw View” will provide 120 en-suite bedrooms including four fully accessible family apartments and six single fully accessible rooms, with shared kitchen, living and dining spaces alongside various amenity spaces.

Professor David Sanders, clinical lead for the hospital programme, said: “The start of construction work is an important moment to celebrate, but there is still much to do. The team continues to work hard to secure the further funding needed to deliver vital improvements across the hospital site.

“Taw View marks the first phase. Not only will it deliver much needed short-term accommodation for our clinical colleagues, it paves the way for relocating the staff car park and unlocking the site for the major, much needed clinical build that will follow.

The next phase will deliver new, fit for purpose operating theatres, intensive care unit, expanded diagnostic facilities and enhanced women’s and children’s services.”

People commenting on Ian Roome’s Facebook post agreed, with one saying that North Devon needed a bigger and better hospital as having to travel to Exeter and Plymouth was “out of the question for the elderly”.

North Devon Hospital is the most remote acute mainland hospital in the country.

Risks at the hospital include ageing air conditioning units which are being “patched up” and lifts. It also needs eight extra operating theatres and eight new intensive care beds.

Professor Sanders described the situation as “a ticking time bomb waiting to go off” when MPs including Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey visited the site.