Work starts on improvements to A&E unit at KGH in Northamptonshire

A crane was used to lift sections of the new building into place over the weekend.

It came in five parts which have been attached together to form the one building.

Each part was delivered on a lorry and then lifted into place by a crane onto the concrete foundations.

It will be linked to the adjoining A&E department by a covered corridor and will allow the existing A&E department to be remodelled to improve care for other urgent care patients.

It will include opening a new 10-bay clinical decisions unit focused on enabling people to be discharged home as early as possible.

Speaking last week, the hospital’s chief operating officer Rebecca Brown said: “This is a much needed expansion to Kettering General Hospital’s A&E department which will help to improve patient care and the patient experience.

“Our current A&E department was designed 20 years ago for 40,000 patients per year but now sees more than double that - 82,000 patients per year

“While we have long term plans for an urgent care hub on our site in the short term we need to improve and modernise our existing urgent care arrangements and this is one of the ways we will do that.

“The new arrangements – which should be fully operational by early May – will help us to improve flow through the hospital and reduce unnecessary waiting.

“There will also be a strong focus on doing everything we can to enable patients to be discharged home in a timely way where this is appropriate.

“Overall the remodelled A&E department should help us to better cope with demand for urgent care and provide a better environment for both patients and for our hard working staff.”

All the internal works and finishing the link corridor to the main department will follow this weekend’s work.