£28m A&E at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital is closer as plans submitted
A new £28 million A&E department at New Cross Hospital is a step closer after plans were formally submitted to planning chiefs.
Health chiefs hope to unveil the much-needed department as part of an all-purpose emergency centre in time for winter 2015. The finer details of how the site will operate have been revealed, with the large major injuries unit on the ground floor in the four-storey development. And as part of the proposals health bosses will introduce a 'range of features' to encourage staff to cycle to work.
These include cycle storage areas, as well as lockers and showers, while more information on travelling to and from the Wednesfield site will be made 'widely available' to staff.
The hospital's A&E unit has come under incredible pressure in the past year, with record patient numbers coming through the doors.
A total of 365 patients went to the department in one day alone.
And bosses say they hope that it will be able to better cope with the sheer volume of people.
Manchester-based firm Keppie Design has submitted the design plans for the 1.06-hectare site.
The company has said it hoped that the project would come to be recognised as a 'landmark' building.
The site is currently occupied by a car park, an ambulance entrance and a ward block.
All of these will be demolished., say hospital bosses.
The new emergency centre will be situated next to the hospital's Heart and Lung Centre, which will remain open while it is constructed.
As well as the major injuries unit, a radiology department, children's triage centre and a minor injuries unit will be on the ground floor.
A Clinical Decisions Unit – where patients with relatively minor aliments wait for results – will be on the first floor, along with an outpatients clinic.
Under the proposals, health staff and administration rooms will take up the top two floors.
The application submitted to Wolverhampton City Council's planning department states: "The emergency services are currently spread about the site, whereas the outline planning proposals for the emergency centre looked to consolidate all of the emergency services into a single location, to include A&E department, satellite radiology, emergency assessment beds and operating theatres."
Bosses face a race against time to get the final plans approved by the Trust Development Authority in May.
The A&E development has been called a 'significant step' in the future of the hospital.
