New 24-bed ward for Salisbury District Hospital named 

The staff at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust have chosen a name for the new ward under construction.

By popular vote, they opted for Imber, chosen as a tribute to the village taken over by the military to train American troops ahead of the Liberation of Europe in 1943, the same year as the US Army Field Hospital opened on Odstock Road.

This new £14m building will provide 24 additional beds in a state-of-the-art ward, incorporating a mixture of four-bed bays and side rooms, in which clinical teams have been heavily involved in designing. It will be an environmentally sustainable building. Imber Ward is scheduled to open in Spring 2024.

By providing extra bed capacity, Imber Ward will underpin the hospital’s elective recovery programme. The extra beds mean elderly care patients will be cared for in a dedicated space; in turn, this will allow our surgical beds to be better utilised to deliver much-needed elective care such as day surgery.

Stacey Hunter, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust CEO, said: ”We are delighted with the progress being made in the construction of our new ward, and it’s great to have given it a name.

“Imber Ward will provide elderly care in a state-of-the-art modern environment, supporting the Trust’s elective recovery programme. The ward marks a major milestone in our Trust’s efforts to deliver the very best compassionate, effective care to our community.”