Scarborough Hospital work starts on £47m new emergency centre

There will be a new reception as part of the building plans at Scarborough Hospital

Plans to almost double the size of the emergency care unit at Scarborough Hospital have been approved.

The £47m Urgent and Emergency Care Centre will accommodate intensive and coronary care patients, said York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Trust.

The new space was "much-needed" amid increasing numbers of patients using the hospital's emergency department, the trust added.

The plans were "extremely good news for our staff and for the community".

Trust chief executive Simon Morritt said the work was the largest capital scheme it had ever undertaken which showed a "commitment to the long-term future of Scarborough Hospital".

The new two-storey facility would allow patients with a range of needs, from minor to complex, to be looked after by one team of healthcare professionals, the trust said.

The centre will have its own dedicated diagnostic zone providing CT scans, general X-ray and ultrasound.

"It will ensure some of the poorliest patients in the hospital are cared for in one integrated clinical ward environment rather than being moved to other wards," the trust said.

Enabling works have already begun and the centre is due to open in the spring of 2024.