Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley gets £1 million to tackle A&E demand

Bosses at Dudley NHS Foundation Trust will spend the money on developing a new urgent care centre at Russells Hall hospital in Dudley.

The facility will help staff deal with patients coming into A&E more efficiently, relieving hospital resources and meeting waiting time targets.

The funding has come from the Department of Health, which allocated £56m to hospitals around the country, earlier this month.

A spokesman for the trust said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be receiving £1m funding to relieve pressure on our accident and emergency department.

"This really is very good news for all of our patients.

"We plan to use the money to build a brand new urgent care centre integrated with our emergency department.

"This will allow a centralised point of access for patients who will be directed to A&E or the UCC depending on their clinical need.

"Having the two services side by side will mean patients will benefit from a seamless service with clinicians from primary care and the hospital working even more closely together."

The money from the Government, totalling £55.98m, forms part of the £100m A&E capital funding outlined in the spring Budget by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

It is hoped that the cash can help hospitals across the country meet A&E targets of admitting, transferring and discharging 95 per cent of patients within four hours and ease pressure in time for winter.

Hospital trusts have outlined plans to achieve this, which include being able to stream primary care and place GP practices within their A&E departments.

Seventy NHS hospitals nationwide have received part of the funding.

Russells Hall faced a hugely challenging winter, which saw record numbers filing into A&E, putting strain on resources.

Bosses were forced to issue a plea for people to only visit the A&E if they had a 'serious condition'.