Harry Redknapp opens new Poole Hospital entrance

Harry Redknapp gave the thumbs-up to the hospital, saying its staff were "amazing"

Football manager Harry Redknapp and his wife Sandra have officially opened the new entrance at a hospital where she was treated for sepsis.

The couple unveiled a stone to mark the official opening at Poole Hospital.

Redknapp, winner of ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, said he could not thank the hospital enough for helping his wife.

He said: "Without this hospital being here we would have been in desperate trouble."

"A year or so ago, when Sandra was very ill, she had sepsis and got rushed in here by ambulance," he explained.

"To see a new facility open today is just amazing. The hospital is going onwards and upwards - it's so important to the people in this area.

"I think the staff here are amazing - it really is an amazing hospital."

The Redknapps joined hospitals chief executive Debbie Fleming (right) at the official opening

Redknapp, who lives in nearby Sandbanks, joked that he and his wife would be doing their shopping there from now on because the new entrance incorporates shops and a cafe - including a WH Smith with a Marks & Spencer counter.

The facility also includes self-service check-in kiosks for outpatients, a new reception desk, security office, CCTV monitoring station and car park office.

Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said its construction was "financed entirely by commercial partners".

Debbie Fleming, chief executive of Poole and Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals, said the new entrance was "all about improving services for patients".