New Leicester hospital units aim to cut queues

A new ambulance hub and discharge lounges will be created at Leicester Royal Infirmary

Two hospitals will be given a £3.6m upgrade in a bid to get ambulances back on the road more quickly.

New ambulance hubs and discharge lounges will be created at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) and Glenfield Hospital under the new plans.

Patients were left stuck in queuing ambulances outside LRI for hours last winter.

But the NHS hopes the new facilities will free up beds and reduce waiting times for people to be admitted to A&E.

The queues at LRI became so severe that the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust set up a "temporary escalation area" made up of a bus and a tent to take those patients when accident and emergency was full.

The emergency treatment area was set up in response to escalating pressure

The bus and tent are now set to be permanently replaced by a new 35-bed ambulance hub, with another 35-bed facility also created at Glenfield Hospital.

New discharge lounges will also be set up at both hospitals, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Patients who are ready to be released from hospital but are waiting for transport or medication will be moved to one of the lounges, which promise to provide "a more comfortable environment" with TVs, hot meals and discharge lounge nurses to attend to people's needs.

Leicestershire is set to receive a total of £3.6m from the government to fund the work across the two sites. Leicester General also received £1.5m to update its current 12-bed discharge lounge.

The trust's chief operating officer Jon Melbourne said: "The investment in discharge space and ambulance facilities at our hospitals is incredibly positive news for the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

"Last year, to improve our ambulance handover times, we established a temporary ambulance escalation facility at Leicester Royal Infirmary's emergency department.

"The facility enabled us to consistently release ambulances more quickly, and also improved the experience for patients arriving on ambulances.

"Investment in making this facility permanent and expanding to Glenfield will better prepare us for the high attendances we face during the winter."