Warwick Hospital's medical day case unit will move into a new 12-bay building, open weekdays until 8pm, after planning permission was granted on 19 October.

Warwick Hospital has planning permission for a new building to house its Medical Day Case Unit. Warwick District Council granted it on Monday 19 October under delegated powers, without a committee vote.

The unit gives scheduled treatment to day patients who do not need an overnight bed. The new building is planned to open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays. The trust’s own transport statement says the existing unit runs from 8am to 6pm.

The application, W/25/1650, was made by South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital.

What will be built

The officer’s delegated report describes a single-storey, flat-roofed modular building of about 20 metres by 20 metres, finished in grey. It will contain:

  • 12 recliner or bed bays
  • a side room
  • a clinic room and a phlebotomy (blood test) room
  • offices, staff facilities, stores and a plant room

It goes on the site of the former linen unit, next to Car Park C off Lakin Road. The hospital’s old decontamination unit on the same plot already has approval for demolition, granted in October 2025.

Outside, the approved plan has six parking spaces, two drop-off bays, an ambulance space, two accessible bays and six cycle spaces.

What the unit does

The trust’s planning statement says the unit is led by consultants and nurses. It takes day patients referred by hospital specialists and GPs in:

  • gastroenterology
  • respiratory medicine
  • cardiology
  • rheumatology
  • endocrinology
  • palliative care

It treats 25 to 30 patients a day, with appointments running from 30 minutes to six hours. The trust says it helps avoid unnecessary admissions and takes pressure off the Emergency Department. It is not an emergency service, and there will be no blue-light ambulance arrivals.

This is a move, not an expansion in patient numbers. The trust’s transport statement says the unit has about 13 staff and that the new building brings no increase in staff or patient trips.

Objections and conditions

Four letters of objection were sent in. They raised security at the back of the building, privacy and the loss of trees, noise from plant, and new lighting.

Warwick Town Council lodged a holding objection in July until the council’s environmental health team was satisfied. It withdrew the objection in September.

The decision notice sets nine conditions. The ones neighbours will notice are:

  • Noise: the unit cannot open until the noise measures in the acoustic report are in place. The officer’s report says these include a 1.8-metre barrier beside the condenser units.
  • Building work hours: noisy work only from 7.30am to 5pm on weekdays and 7.30am to 1pm on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or bank holidays. Construction deliveries from 8am to 4.30pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.
  • Lighting: no external lighting without the council’s approval first.
  • Landscaping: a planting scheme must be approved within six months, partly to soften views towards homes on Green Lane.
  • An electric vehicle charger must be installed within six months.

Work must start within three years. No opening date has been published.

What it means for you

  • If you are a patient of the unit, nothing changes about how you are referred. You will still come via your hospital specialist or your GP. The trust has not yet said when the longer opening hours will start.
  • It is not a walk-in service. For urgent problems, NHS 111 and the Emergency Department on Lakin Road are unchanged.
  • If you live on Green Lane or Wathen Road, the building-hours and noise conditions above are the ones the council can enforce. Its planning enforcement team takes complaints through warwickdc.gov.uk.

For the other applications decided around Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth, see our planning news page.

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