Great Western Hospital has issued a warning to patients following the opening of its new Emergency Department.

The £33.5m expansion treated its first patients on Wednesday and will help medics deal with growing demand, as the existing emergency care hub was only designed to care for 48,000 patients a year but regularly saw more than 80,000 before the pandemic.

The public now has a part to play in ensuring that the department is not overwhelmed.

Staff have reminded people in need of medical assistance to call NHS 111 first, or visit a GP or pharmacist, and only come to hospital if their condition is serious or life-threatening.

A spokesperson added: “Thank you for the incredible hard work from the team in urgent and emergency care, our amazing wider workforce right across the trust and the partners we worked with on the build, that meant the Emergency Department could open [on September 18].

“Our thanks go to every one of you for your efforts in providing care for our patients wherever you work in the trust and doing your bit to support the opening of such a significant milestone for the organisation.

“Now we need local people to help us in return, by only coming to hospital if you really need to and using NHS 111 in the first instance.

“All walk-ins should continue to enter the building via the Urgent Treatment Centre. You will be triaged at the door and signposted to the right place for your care needs. Only ambulances arrive directly to the Emergency Department.”

This marks the culmination of more than five years of planning and several months of construction following the biggest investment in the hospital's history.

Hoardings went up around the hospital in February 2023 after plans for the 1,492sq m area described the existing department as operating way beyond capacity and creating significant pressure on staff.

The extension was deemed to be essential in allowing clinicians to work effectively and efficiently and will improve the experience of patients being cared for in the department.

Work on the hospital's first children's emergency unit is still being finished.

Medical assessment and surgical assessment units from a draft of the original plan that was later left out due to cost pressures could be added in a possible second phase if further funding is secured.