Hospital to build new urgent treatment centre

The new unit is due to be built in Cliftonville Road, alongside the existing emergency department

A hospital that requires improvement has announced it hopes to build a new urgent treatment centre and emergency department entrance for patients.

Northampton General Hospital (NGH) said the new facility would "create a central hub for all urgent and emergency care services" and could open in a year's time.

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, released last week, found patients had waited on chairs for more than 22 hours.

Laura Churchward, the hospital chief executive, said its "old estate" presented lots of challenges.

Northampton General Hospital was previously rated as good in 2019

The new building would replace the existing Springfield Urgent Treatment Centre, which opened in 2017, and also replace the Portakabin entrances which have been in situ as a temporary measure since 2023.

"We've known for several years that our urgent and emergency care pathways at NGH have needed longer term improvement," added Ms Churchward.

"Bringing our urgent and emergency care facilities under one roof will improve the experience patients have when they need urgent or lifesaving care."

The hospital said if it gets planning approval, there would be changes to the road layout on the site.

NGH was downgraded from good, to requires improvement, following the surprise inspection in February.