A pioneering health-care project in Wales is fast taking shape at Tenby's Park House Court. Construction of the state-of-the art Tenby Cottage Ward is an amazing six weeks ahead of schedule, and it is expected to be open to patients by the summer. A brand new concept in health-care, the innovative project is a collaboration between the NHS and the independent sector and will show how community services can be updated and yet remain in the locality they were originally designed for. Named Peter's Place after Peter Parker, one of the directors, and eldest of the Parker brothers who own Park House Court, the development, the first of its kind in the country, will feature 26 care beds - 10 of which will be used exclusively for NHS hospital patients and will complete the re-provision of services previously provided at the now-closed old Tenby Cottage Hospital. Outpatient services, minor injury unit, x-ray, dental services, podiatry and day care have already been re-provided at the new Tenby Cottage Hospital which opened at Gas Lane last year. As well as the NHS beds, which will be accessed exactly like any other community hospital beds, the new building will also care for patients with a range of different needs and includes a High Dependency Unit and a Palliative Care Unit, as well as a department for those with significant physical needs. All 26 bedrooms are single individual en suite rooms, not only featuring their own wet rooms with walk-in showers, but also TVs and telephones. Patients will also benefit from a day room, lounge facilities with French doors opening onto landscaped gardens, a trolley library service, daily newspapers, hairdresser, and food provided by Park House Court to its usual high standards. Overhead hoist tracking systems will also be provided in the High Dependency Unit. All the patients in the different units will be cared for by Park House Court's qualified and dedicated team who will work closely with Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust. There is ample free car parking outside, together with a bus bay for the local service to drive in to drop off and pick people up. "We are about to start plastering the rooms on the ground floor," site manager for Chalcroft Construction Ltd., Adrian Wintrip, told the Observer when we were invited to tour the new facility this week. "On the first floor, the mechanical and electrical contractors are undertaking their 'first fixing', and the windows are being fitted," he explained. "We have around 25 men working on site at the moment, the majority of whom are from the locality," he continued. "We have experienced appaling weather, but despite this, the block layers and roofers have worked in extreme conditions and done a marvellous job on the roof," he added. Elizabeth Hardcastle, matron at Park House Court, said: "The new patients will be the beneficiaries of this unique partnership between the NHS and the private sector. Our patients will receive first class nursing from what is the first hospital of its kind in the independent sector." It is expected the new Tenby Cottage Ward will be up and running by July.
Also ahead of schedule is work on an ambitious project for a new headquarters for the town's Scout and Guide movement. Demolition of the dilapidated former hall in Warren Street got underway in November, with building work, also by F. J. Chalcroft Construction Ltd., making great strides since. The £870,000 scheme will provide much-needed modern facilities for Scouts, Brownies and Guides on the ground floor, together with residential apartments above. Garages will also be included. "The work is ahead of schedule and on course for a June delivery date," said developer, Stuart Farrow, of GKV Developments this week.