Northampton General Hospital unveils major plans to improve urgent and emergency care at ‘old estate’
Plans to build a major new Emergency Department entrance and Urgent Treatment Centre at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) have been unveiled.
The new facility would create a new central entrance to all urgent and emergency care services.
Designs unveiled by NGH, show a modern environment where patients needing urgent and emergency care would access the most appropriate place for their care.
The new building would replace the existing Springfield Urgent Treatment Centre, which opened in 2017 and porta cabin entrances to the Emergency Department which have been in place as a temporary measure since 2023. The unit would be built on the Cliftonville Road and would join the existing Emergency Department with the Nye Bevan building.
Laura Churchward, UHN Chief Executive said: “We’ve known for several years that our urgent and emergency care pathways at NGH have needed longer term improvement. We have an old estate which presents a lot of challenges and bringing our urgent and emergency care facilities under one roof will improve the experience patients have when they need urgent or lifesaving care.
“We are so pleased to be submitting these plans to hopefully move forward with building a new Emergency Department entrance and Urgent Treatment Centre on site. A new facility would be a huge boost for our hospital and would give patients a dedicated, modern facility to be seen in. This also means we could provide a better experience for our patients and their loved ones instead of the current temporary measure”.
To support with the proposed build, there will be some groundworks taking place and internal road changes on site. If works are approved, there may also be temporary changes to where patients are seen on arrival, however the hospital will work to minimise disruption for patients, visitors and staff.
Subject to formal planning approval due to take place soon, the aim is to have the site operational in summer 2026.
Medical care and urgent and emergency care at NGH were inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February this year.
In a report published on Wednesday August 13, the CQC confirmed that medical care has been rated ‘requires improvement’ again as three breaches of regulation were found.
Urgent and emergency care has dropped its rating from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’. How safe the service is has been rated ‘inadequate’ and inspectors found three more breaches of regulation in the emergency care service. The new ratings for these services has led to an overall rating at NGH of ‘requires improvement’, although the hospital as a whole in the caring and responsive categories has been rated ‘good’. Hospital bosses have apologised for not providing the level of care communities “need and deserve” and have said they have already undertaken “significant work” to address the concerns.