A new £40m emergency department being constructed at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands will help to increase capacity and improve the experience for patients and staff.

Being built by contractor, Tilbury Douglas, the new 5,400sq m accident and emergency unit will bring together previously-separate pathways, providing a central destination for all patients and visitors.

Designed to allow for greater flexibility and the addition of extra space and capacity in core areas, the building will include a reception area and a waiting and triage area, where admissions can be prioritised and directed more efficiently. 

Clinical spaces include an urgent treatment centre; majors department, with resus and rapid assessment and treatment facilities; a paediatric assessment and treatment unit; an acute medical unit; and provision for ambulatory emergency care in a future phase. 

Specialist facilities

Various specialist facilities are also located in the facility, including an isolation room for infectious patients; bariatric provision, and X-ray rooms. 

And all areas have been designed specifically to enhance medical staff efficiency, productivity, and quality of care.

Built adjacent to the current A&E provision, the existing building will also be reconfigured and refurbished, providing additional support space for the hospital and staff on completion of the new build.

The project will be delivered to BREEAM ‘Excellent’ sustainability standards.

Russell Caldicott, the trust’s executive director of finance and performance and senior responsible officer for the development, said: “This builds further uon the multi-million pound developments for integrated critical care and the neonatal unit, giving the trust the estates infrastructure to cope with future healthcare demands.”  

Enabling works

Ned Hobbs, chief operating officer, adds: “A five-month programme of enabling work has now been completed during which time we’ve seen the widening of the blue light route for ambulances as well as mine workings carried out and the installation of more than 460 piles to support the steel frame.

“The new ambulance parking area outside the old emergency department entrance has also been completed.

“So much has already been achieved, but when the main phase gets underway that is when the whole project will suddenly seem much more for those of us who are watching its progress with such excitement. 

“In just over a year’s time we will have a fantastic new addition to Walsall Manor Hospital that will provide a massive improvement to our healthcare services.”

Works started at the end of May, with an overall completion date of autumn 2022.