Hospital A&E expansion work nearly complete

The Royal Oldham Hospital A&E department

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The major alterations to the Accident and Emergency department at The Royal Oldham Hospital, which serves Rochdale as well as Oldham, are now nearing completion.

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has spent £4.4 million in expanding and improving the emergency department facilities including the development of separate, dedicated A&E facilities for children and young people.

The A&E department has been completely re-modelled with the work being carried out in phases to ensure the service remained open throughout the contract.

The new reception and waiting room for paediatrics is already open and has a transport theme with a bus, traffic lights and road markings, making a more welcoming environment for patients and young children.

The latest phase has also seen the completion of a new major treatment area with 11 cubicles, and two treatment rooms. A resuscitation area has also been opened, providing seven bays, including a separate room for children.

An additional x-ray room is due to open soon and a new corridor formed to provide improved links to the x-ray department and the main hospital building.

The final phase will see the refurbishment of the eight-bedded A&E ward and is due to be completed by July 2014.

The A&E department at The Royal Oldham Hospital currently sees an average of 250 patients per day; approximately 91,000 patients a year. Of these, over 60 children aged under 16 are seen every day. The A&E team comprises 10 consultants in emergency medicine and 77 nursing staff.

Dr Nick Gili, A&E consultant and clinical director at The Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “We are really excited about the new department. It has been fascinating to watch the building works develop and the final work has exceeded all of our expectations.

"I would like to thank Julie Winterbottom, clinical matron and Dr Tom Leckie, A&E consultant who have both worked really closely with our estates department and contractors to ensure that we have the very best facilities for all of our patients and with minimal disruption to our service during the building work.”

Graham Lord, Head of estate development at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “The main contractor, Vinci Construction UK, have worked closely with the department to maintain business as usual throughout the contract period and are due to complete the project on time in the summer of this year.”