Video shows what Chesterfield Royal Hospital's new £24million A&E will look like

Building work started this week on the multi-million pound ‘state-of-the-art’ development.

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After years of planning, hospital bosses say they are now ready for the ‘incredible’ new centre to come out of the ground and ‘revolutionise’ the way the Royal provides urgent and emergency care.

The £24million department – which is being built on an existing staff car park at the front of the Calow hospital site – will open in 2023 and promises to bring together a host of services into defined clinical areas to make sure that patients get to see the right healthcare professional quickly.

This will happen whether they need emergency care for a serious accident, critical treatment for a life-threatening condition, medical support for a long-term illness, or help with a minor injury.

The new urgent and emergency care department will also provide designated zones to care for children and those with a mental health need, as well as having the capacity to provide immediate support from other health professionals, including therapists and social services.

And there will be improved access to nearby x-ray and imaging services to reduce the length of time patients spend in the department.

Talking to the Derbyshire Times on Tuesday, Angie Smithson, chief executive of Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a really important step for us – our new urgent and emergency care department will provide state-of-the art facilities for the people of north Derbyshire.

“There will be a much better environment for patients and staff.

“Patients get good outcomes now but we aim to make that even better.”

Berenice Groves, deputy chief executive and chief operating officer at the trust, is leading the ambitious project.

She said: “After a significant focus on planning and design in consultation with clinical colleagues and partners, we are delighted to get this development underway.

“It’s exciting to see our project come to life and is a real boost for everyone to see the work begin.

“This is the biggest development in our urgent and emergency care services since the hospital opened its doors in 1984.

“Over the years emergency department activity has grown substantially and we’re outgrowing the current arrangements.

“To have this purpose-built, brand new development will be fantastic and extremely important for staff and patients.

“People will be able to present to the department and be streamed into the right department.

“It will provide support for anyone with life-threatening emergencies and people who are extremely, acutely unwell, and it will also be able to look after those with more minor injuries and ailments.

“I think it will revolutionise patient care locally.”

She added: “As we are building a new department, our current emergency services will not be affected or disrupted during the construction.

“We look forward to seeing the building develop over the next few years, ready to open to patients in summer 2023.”

The Royal’s current A&E department is ‘under review’ at the moment.

Berenice said: “We are currently reconfiguring a lot of services and looking at whether we could move them into the ‘old’ A&E when this new department opens.”

Katherine Lendrum, the trust’s consultant in emergency care and clinical lead for the emergency department, said the new building will ‘make a huge difference’.

She added: “Whatever level of care you need, you will immediately be in the right place when you arrive at the door.

“Then it’s our job to assess you and make sure you see the right expert in the right part of our emergency and urgent care department as quickly as possible.

“This could be a GP, advanced nurse, practitioner, therapist or consultant, but it will be someone with the skills and expertise that you require.

“Making the best use of our resources is a key part of patient care by ensuring our patients are given the most appropriate care in the right place without placing undue pressure on our services.

“We have seen demand on services build at the hospital and to continue with our emergency department as it currently stands wasn’t an option in the long-term.

“We are close to having outgrown it but additional capacity has been built into the design of the unit to change the way we can deliver care and improve the experience for our patients.”

Asked if new staff will be employed when the department opens, Katherine said: “Yes – we’ve been working towards recruitment processes even before spades went into the ground this week as we recognise we need employees who are fully-trained.”

Helen Phillips, chair of the trust, described the new urgent and emergency care department as a ‘state-of-the art facility’ which will be ‘terrific’ for patient care.

The project will also include building a new paediatric assessment unit alongside the Royal’s Nightingale unit to ensure babies, children and youngsters with acute illness or injury are assessed, investigated, observed and treated with an expectation of discharge home in 12 hours or less. Work is due to start on that part of the development in the new year.

The trust provides care and treatment to a population of more than 400,000 people across north Derbyshire, seeing upwards of 90,000 patients in its current emergency department per year – a figure which is rising annually.

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