Critical care at Walsall Manor Hospital will be overhauled as part of a £16 million plan which will also see the site’s accident and emergency department rebuilt, the Express & Star can reveal today.

Bosses are drawing up proposals for the scheme and say, when complete, the units will improve the patient “experience and environment”.

The redevelopment of A&E has been mooted for months since bosses revealed the unit was treating 80,000 patients a year, double the number it was expected to cater for when it was built.

The expanded department will be able to cope with the demand and slash waiting times for patients, bosses say. Walsall Manor had been threatened with a £142,000 fine if it failed to improve patient flow last year.

The cost of the revamp, and proposals to “reconfigure” the hospital’s high dependency and critical care units, have never been revealed before today.

A document for the hospital’s board states: “The Trust is seeking to invest £16m in re-design for a new accident and emergency department and reconfiguration of the high dependency unit and critical care unit.” Jayne Tunstall, chief operating officer at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, confirmed the plans.