Northampton General Hospital reveals when 'urgently needed' heated cabin will be installed outside of its busy A&E department

Northampton General Hospital (NGH) has revealed when an ‘urgently needed’ heated cabin will be installed outside of its busy accident and emergency department.

The hospital has been using a white tent for months now as a waiting area for patients when the A&E department is over capacity - it was initially brought in to to protect patients from the sun during summer. This set up has led to patients, young and old, waiting outside in poor weather conditions for months now.

Conservative councillor James Hill (Billing and Rectory Farm) has weighed in on the issue after being sent a photo by one of his residents who was 'forced to wait in sub zero temperatures' this week.

Councillor Hill said: “Like many I was shocked to see the conditions in which patients are having to wait in, especially in these current sub-zero temperatures.

"This tent has been in use for several months and the hospital have known that winter is coming and that demand would increase. Surely they could have made plans to put a better temporary provision in place such as a heated marque or the use of another room?”

With temperatures reaching sub zero degrees this week, Chron and Echo has asked again on behalf of many concerned residents, where is the heated cabin?

An NGH spokesman said the works to install a 12 by six-metre heated cabin outside A&E will start in early January and are expected to take two weeks to complete.

The hospital spokesman said: “The procurement process has commenced, and the area will have heating, light, power, and CCTV coverage, and have suitable staffing available to create 24/7 cover, in order to create a temporary waiting area. Works will start on site in early January and is expected to take two weeks to complete.

“We would like to apologise to all patients who are currently having to wait outside due to our operational constraints and heavy demands for our services."

The NGH spokesman went on to say that the A&E department ‘is coping with extraordinarily high numbers of emergency patients’.

"On some days we have seen record numbers of attendances with numbers reaching over 500 patients a day,” the spokesman said.

“Unfortunately, this pressure on services has led to queuing outside of our emergency department at the initial stage where patients are streamed to the appropriate service for their problem.

“We have been consistently monitoring the situation and pressures on the department to improve the functionality of the space available and expand waiting capacity. This has included researching and assessing the viability of a variety of options, over the past few months to improve the experience for patients.

“We are looking at both a short term, and a longer term, solutions regarding our emergency department services. In the short term we have drawn up plans for a new temporary waiting area to initially stream patients in place of the current arrangements.”

Last month, Heidi Smoult, NGH chief executive, addressed the growing concerns surrounding the A&E department.