The Trust has secured £26m of Government funding to progress the scheme, which will provide a new ‘same day’ Emergency Care and Joint Initial Assessment Unit. IHP says this will ‘deliver a significant uplift, for the first time formally integrating medical and surgical care’.
With the rising demand for urgent and emergency care services, and increasing capacity pressures on the Trust’s ‘front door services’, the 2442 m2 facility will link up the current Emergency Department footprint, connecting the new Urgent Treatment Centre via a corridor. Throughout the construction, existing services will be maintained, and careful consideration and planning undertaken to relocate and reposition some clinical services. The new ‘Integrated Front Door’ enabling works are now well underway, with piling due to start in March.
Russell Flowers, Regional director for VINCI and IHP, said: “IHP is delighted the Trust has received approval for the urgent and emergency care expansion programme to deliver the new Integrated Front Door project. We are looking forward to working with the Trust to develop on what is already a strong relationship, having just completed the new UTC Building – the first phase of this project. Our teams have worked together, with the departmental heads developing the project on paper, and can’t wait to bring the scheme to life, and improve the staff and patient working and treatment environment.”
IHP will complete this latest project in the Summer of 2024, with the scheme procured via the P22 Framework.