New unit at Basildon Hospital is much needed and is 'an exciting' step for patients says consultant

By Matthew Critchell LDRS 9th Oct 2025

A NEW ward offering "much-needed" and "urgent clinical care" for kidney conditions is set to open, following the approval of plans at Basildon Hospital.

The hospital has been given the green light for the demolition of a link corridor and the construction of a new single-storey extension to the hospital building.

The site for the new building is an informal car park area at the hospital.

The new ward will provide space for up to 28 renal patients, as well as assessment rooms and staff areas. It will have 22 inpatient beds in four-bed bays, a single room, and a specialist bariatric room, as well as six outpatient treatment spaces and two dedicated procedure rooms for kidney biopsies.

The new space will replace services currently provided on the Elizabeth Fry ward and will provide additional space for people presenting to the emergency department with kidney problems, thereby speeding up access to urgent care.

The plans follow the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust, which operates Basildon Hospital, being rated as one of the worst hospital trusts in the country. Last month, the new league tables revealed the hospital trust was rated 123rd out of 134 trusts in the first of the Labour government's new NHS league tables.

The unit is due to welcome its first patients in June 2026, with a phased transfer from Elizabeth Fry ward. Following this, the Elizabeth Fry ward will be refurbished to support more medical care beds for winter and provide space to move patients out of older wards, helping the trust make much-needed improvements to other wards at the hospital.

Dr Gowrie Balasubramaniam, renal consultant for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This is an exciting step forward for people with kidney disease and being able to move quickly to deliver is important.

"The new unit will be transformative, enabling us to deliver prompt, specialist care in a calm, modern environment, with space and resources we've needed for a long time."

CHECK OUT OUR Jobs Section HERE!
basildon vacancies updated hourly!
Click here to see more: basildon jobs

Comments (2)

Post comment

That is great news about time and well overdue in my eyes makes me die all these inspectors thinking they have the right to rank them because of visits jokers you want to be there week in week out and see just what a amazing job they actually do do they are seriously over capacity for the size they are the number of wards and beds they have and for the vast population you have to treat which will get even bigger with all the developments all going ahead makes me die they build new schools new doctors surgeries but never no money to the hospitals to make them bigger and more capable of dealing with the ever growing population they have to treat why do they not need bigger spaces and more beds but a school and doctors surgery are a must yet the ones saving peoples lives get forgotten about this government and councils are all corrupt and just greedy for money and don’t care the pressures our hospitals are under to keep everyone alive they do there amazing considering what they have to work with I know my mums spent a lot of times in hospital and you see exactly what they do and the overload and pressures they are under and the way they keep going is a statement to them that they don’t get no where near the credit they so well deserve so I for one am delighted that there is this going one hopefully it will be the start of more to come as this is what our hospital is so desperately needing not the do gooders that think they have the right to comment on there failings rather the actual good they actually do do keep up the brilliant work you do and hopefully will see more to follow in the future with the ever growing numbers use have to treat keep well and alive 💪