Great Western Hospital's £33.5m Emergency Department expansion will soon open for patients - and the Adver had the chance to look around.

The biggest-ever investment to the Great Western Hospital site has been under construction since February 2023  and is 60 per cent larger than the current Emergency Department, which was built to cope with 48,000 patients a year and struggles with the demand of more than 100,000 a year.

The amount of cubicles has risen from 15 to 22, with glass doors for privacy and dimmable lighting for comfort, and there are now seven resuscitation cubicles instead of four.

Away from the bustle of the main department is a secluded room for patients dealing with mental health crises, a more comfortable observation area, and two supportive relatives’ rooms

Links to the Urgent Treatment Centre and other departments aim to improve same-day emergency care services as well as cut waiting times down, improve patients’ experience, and ensure they receive the right care in the right place during their first visit.

Hospital trust chair Liam Coleman said: “Our new Emergency Department is a modern, fit-for-purpose building which will enable clinical teams to treat patients in the best possible environment.

"This wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support along the way of a number of people and organisations, and I’m looking forward to seeing how our teams can really lead the way in the delivery of urgent and emergency care in this fantastic new space.

“It’s well-known that the health and care system is extremely busy and has been under significant pressure for some considerable time.

“Whilst we know that a new building won’t solve all the issues the system is experiencing, it does give us the chance for our fantastic multi-disciplinary teams to work together with colleagues from across the health and social care system to try to give patients the care they need it when they need it, and in the right place.”

Operations manager Kevin Clark added: “We’ve seen this evolve from flat ground and a shell to what it is now, changing week to week, it’s amazing, and we’ve had a really good relationship with the builders.”

Julian Auckland Lewis, director of the hospital’s Way Forward programme that oversaw the project’s development, said that construction of the new ED went faster than that of the Urgent Treatment Centre in 2022 because the processes and materials used were identical.

He added: “It’s been a long time coming. We started work on the clinical model four-and-a-half years ago.

“The benefits are capacity, clinical capability, and integration, along with patient experience - they will have a better time here than coming through the old department.”

VINCI Building and IHP regional director Russell Flowers said: “IHP is extremely pleased and proud to have completed the new Emergency Department.

“It’s been important to the whole team to ensure that whilst we delivered state-of-the-art facilities, we enabled the rest of the hospital to function normally.

“I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this for their hard work and attention to detail, which has resulted in a superb facility.”

Paralympian Louise Hunt was one of many patients the hospital contacted to help make the building as accessible and inclusive to people’s needs as possible.

She added: “They have really listened. 

"One of my biggest bugbears is that waiting areas have nowhere for me to go so I get in the way. I won’t have that problem here, there’s plenty of space - the layout is so impressive and thoughtful.

“To see this in person and feel confident that they got it right is exciting. It’s the easiest space I’ve ever navigated. My life would be a lot better if everywhere was like this.”