Treatment centre to tackle A&E overcrowding
NCICA £12m urgent treatment centre (UTC) is to be built to address overcrowding at accident and emergency departments.
Cumberland Infirmary's A&E in Carlisle was built to treat 30,000 people a year, but last year dealt with 78,300.
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC), which runs the hospital, said overcrowding could lead to "issues with privacy and dignity for our patients".
Funding has been secured to allow building work on the urgent treatment centre to begin in the new year, with the unit expected to open by the end of 2025.
The UTC will be built next to the existing emergency department and will have 12 clinic rooms.
Cumbria Health, which provides out of hours GP services, will be located in the same building.
Mike Rickards, consultant in emergency medicine at NCIC, said the centre would free up capacity for patients "who are acutely unwell".
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