New £35m A&E shuts waiting room

Patients have been moved out of Worcestershire Royal Hospital's new A&E department waiting room because of damaged floors.

The £35m development was officially opened by Princess Anne in July.

Now the main waiting area has been relocated to the first floor of the building in Aconbury East.

The trust said its priority was that the emergency department remained open and functioned safely.

A source told the BBC the new floor is “cracked and potholed” less than a year after completion in October last year.

The hospital has confirmed contractors Speller Metcalfe are carrying out remedial work after identifying problems with the floor in several areas.

Hospital managing director Stephen Collman said additional signage was being put in place and extra staff would be on duty to direct patients to the emergency department entrance.

“Once the floor finish is replaced in the waiting room and triage area those services will be returned to their original location and work to replace the floor in two other, smaller, areas of the emergency department will be carried out.”

The trust expects all the work to be completed by early November.

Ambulance access and entry to the children’s emergency department are not affected by the work.

“We would like to thank our staff and partners for their support while this work is carried out, and although every effort will be made to avoid any disruption for our patients we apologise in advance for any inconvenience the work may cause," Mr Collman added.

The trust urged the public to continue to help by using alternatives to the emergency department whenever safe to do so - their GP, minor injury units and the NHS 111 service.

Speller Metcalfe said the cost of the repair was subject to contractual discussions.

Regional director Mark Hudgeon said: “Since handover, it has become apparent that isolated areas of the floor finish presented defects, and as a result further investigation has been carried out across the ground floor.

"Subsequently, we have proactively assessed the wider floor area and will undertake further remedial works as required."

The contractor said it was doing everything possible to minimise disruption to staff and patients.

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