New £30m Wolverhampton New Cross emergency centre given approval
A new £30million emergency centre at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital has been given official approval by national health chiefs and work starts on building it next Monday, it was announced today.
Bosses have revealed that construction giant Kier has secured the contract to build centre, which includes a badly-needed A&E unit.
The centre will provide crucial extra capacity for patients when it opens in November 2015.
Hospital chief executive David Loughton proclaimed that the centre would be one of the finest of its kind in the country
The A&E department will be three times the size of the current one.
New Cross bosses today stressed that existing emergency services at the hospital would not be affected by construction of the new three-storey building, which will link directly with the hospital's Heart and Lung Centre.
David Loughton, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said the building was 'very good news' for the city.
He added: "We have worked long and hard to secure this improvement for the people of Wolverhampton and surrounding areas.
"Our emergency department has been under immense pressure and it is a source of great pride and optimism to see work starting.
"In just over a year's time we will have one of the UK's most advanced emergency buildings and urgent care systems, supporting our staff with the very best facilities and enabling us to put our patients first.
"That is very good news for Wolverhampton."
The first floor will house a Clinical Decisions Unit – where patients who need to be monitored will stay – and an outpatients' clinic.
Other areas of the building will include dedicated radiology and x-ray facilities for emergency patients along with consulting space for GPs.
The development aims to bring all emergency services – which are currently spread out across the News Cross site – under one roof.
Kier Construction director David Sizer spoke of his delight at the firm securing the contract.
He said: "We are delighted to have been appointed by the trust to build this important emergency healthcare facility.
"We have successfully completed over 130 projects through the P21+ framework to date and we are confident that, by working collaboratively with the trust, we can deliver excellent new healthcare facilities for Wolverhampton and surrounding areas.
"These will both ease the pressure on the emergency department and enable the Trust to provide even better patient care."
The hospital, which has seen record numbers come through its A&E doors in the past year, is bracing itself for an influx of even more patients with the potential closure of Cannock Hospital's minor injuries unit.
The existing A&E has previously been labelled as 'unfit for purpose' by Mr Loughton.
It was given a facelift with a £2.5m extension late last year, which added 10 extra beds.
