New 20-bed hospital building to be ready in weeks

Peterborough City Council aims to reduce A&E pressures with a new building with space for 20 beds

A hospital has been preparing to welcome patients into a new modular building to help ease pressures on its accident and emergency department (A&E).

Last year Peterborough City Hospital (PCH) was granted permission to turn a section of a car park into a two-storey modular building with space for 20 beds.

North West Anglia Foundation Trust (NWAFT) runs the hospital and said it continues to experience "significant challenges" in the offload time of ambulances and hoped the new building would ease the pressure during winter.

Hannah Coffey, the chief executive officer for the trust, said the new C16 ward, located at the rear of the hospital, will open in the next few weeks.

The trust has said that the new C16 ward will be ready in the next few weeks

In July 2022, the trust was at the bottom of the national league table for patients waiting longer than four hours in A&E. It was also in the bottom ten for patients having to wait in an ambulance because there was no space in A&E to offload them.

The planning statement submitted on behalf of the NWAFT trust said: "Some patients are experiencing journey times in A&E well in excess of 24 hours and these tend to be older people."

NWAFT that runs Peterborough City Hospital said it experienced "significant challenges" with A&E waiting queues

This 20-bed facility was originally expected to be ready by spring this year.

Ms Coffey said: “The ward - known as Ward C16 - is located to the rear of the hospital site and will start welcoming patients in the next few weeks.

"Work began on Ward C16 last year and the project is part of an ongoing redevelopment programme at PCH to increase our clinical capacity.

"It will see part of the fourth floor also converted to ward space, to align with plans to ease the pressure on bed capacity and improve both patient journey time and patient experience.

“Winter planning is something we start doing as soon as the previous winter ends and the demand and pressures change frequently.

"We need to be ready to mitigate these challenges with solutions such as increasing bed space, as well as ensure we continue to enhance patient experience and provide high-quality care.”

Last year, the trust was given £12.5m of government funding to convert office space on the fourth floor of PCH into two 36-bed wards – making a total of 72 extra inpatient beds.