Royal Shrewsbury Hospital emergency department in £9.3m expansion

Building work will take place over the next 12 months

A hospital emergency department is undergoing a £9.3m expansion as part of a programme to improve patient care.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said the demand for services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital department exceeds capacity.

It comes after the trust was fined for failing to triage patients within 15 minutes of arriving at the hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

Clinical space is being increased and there will be a new area for children.

In October, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it had fined the trust £4,000 for failing to triage people within a quarter of an hour of emergency department attendance.

The CQC said the trust breached conditions imposed on them following inspections by the watchdog on 18 April 2019 and 29 November 2019.

The conditions included requiring it to report the time from admission to triage by a clinician and ensure follow-ups were undertaken for children who were not seen at the emergency department.

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Building work will take place in four phases over the next 12 months, with the first phase already under way to create a larger zone for those who are seriously ill.

The trust, which has secured government funding for the work, said a capital investment was part of a programme to improve patient care and safety, and help address issues raised by the CQC.

Emergency department patients can expect some disruption during building work, but the trust stressed all emergency department services would "remain operational".

Trust chief operating officer Nigel Lee said the quality of care provided to patients and their experience in its hospitals "is our priority".