A&E's £7m expansion finished by summer - trust

A £7m upgrade to a hospital's A&E department aimed at improving capacity and patient flow was expected to be completed by June, bosses have said.

The refurbished urgent and emergency care centre at Rotherham Hospital would feature a new area for urgent primary care and minor injuries and a purpose-built same-day emergency care facility, according to the trust which runs the site.

Other upgrades would include a new fracture clinic, new sexual health facilities and a new location for the hospital's pre-assessment centre.

It was hoped the expansion would ensure patients could have timely access to emergency services following an increase in demand in recent years, a trust spokesperson said.

Sally Kilgariff, chief operating officer at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We have already invested in an increased urgent and emergency care centre workforce, but have been limited by the space available in the department.

"This work provides us with additional waiting room and clinical space which can be used flexibly depending on the demand for our urgent primary care and minor injuries services."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Kilgariff said that as part of the expansion, same-day emergency care would now have its own dedicated facilities for the first time.

Meanwhile, a refurbished orthotics department was also expected to open in the winter, she added.

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