Swindon MPs Sir Robert Buckland and Justin Tomlinson have welcomed news that the Government has awarded more than £26 million to Great Western Hospital to expand urgent and emergency care – improving care for people in Swindon and Wiltshire.
The government investment comes on top of £5.4 million in internal funding available to the Trust, and represents the biggest ever investment to the hospital site and one the biggest that the NHS in the South West has seen.
Greater bed capacity and better flow through the hospital will better equip it to manage increasing demand from the area’s growing population.
Sir Robert Buckland MP and Justin Tomlinson MP said
“We are both delighted that we have secured this important investment in the GWH. We lobbied to deliver this funding and the Government has rightly seen how it will transform both emergency care and transitional care in Swindon.
“This new £26 million investment will ensure the patients can get access to the right treatment, in the right place, at the right time.”
In July 2022, the new Urgent Treatment Centre was opened on the Great Western Hospital site, which marked the first phase of the urgent and emergency care expansion.
Now, efforts are focused on refurbishing and expanding the Emergency Department, and relocating a number of other services, including assessment units, to create one single urgent and emergency care service.
This new ‘front door’ will also have a new Children’s Emergency Department, which will be adjacent to a Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU).
The new urgent and emergency care expansion will bring together Emergency Department, resuscitation, observation, Same Day Emergency Care and Joint Initial Assessment in one space. The Children’s Emergency Department will sit alongside it.
All of these services will also link directly with the Urgent Treatment Centre, so that patients can easily be moved around the department to receive the right care depending on their clinical needs.
Expanding Same Day Emergency Care will reduce admissions and shorten length of stay. The co-location of services will also ensure a more rapid discharge for patients who do not need admitting to a ward, and quicker handover times for ambulance crews so they can get back on the road.
Moving some services from other areas of the hospital, such as the Paediatric Assessment Unit currently located on the second floor, to the ground floor will also free up space for more clinical activity or inpatient beds.
Enabling works have already started to prepare the site for construction. This includes clearing the space outside of the Emergency Department and rerouting the urgent and emergency care entrance through the Urgent Treatment Centre.
