Biggest investment to healthcare in Swindon in over 20 years opens its doors to patients

The first patients were admitted to a brand new urgent and emergency care development at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon on Wednesday 18 September.

The £33.5million urgent and emergency care expansion is the biggest ever investment to the hospital site and follows the opening of the Urgent Treatment Centre and OUH Radiotherapy @ Swindon Centre in 2022, which already represent a huge investment in Swindon’s healthcare infrastructure.

With a 60 per cent bigger footprint, the new Emergency Department, and accompanying Children’s Emergency Unit and improved same day emergency care service, will ensure unplanned healthcare provision is fit for the increasing demand and growing population of the town.

Since £26.3million of Government funding was secured in January last year, in addition to £7.2million from the Trust, construction has been happening at pace to build the new department.

Completion of the build was celebrated at a ribbon cutting event in July, where teams were joined by local Paralympian and wheelchair user, Louise Hunt, who cut the ribbon.

Following some final remedial works, the Emergency Department then opened to the public earlier this week, with all ambulances handing over patients to the new department and walk-in patients being triaged to the Emergency Department via the Urgent Treatment Centre. 

The new Emergency Department has an increase in ‘majors cubicles’ from 15 to 22 (45 per cent), which are more private with glass doors instead of curtains, and individual environmental controls such as dimmable lighting.

To support patients in a more critical or life-threatening condition, there is now an increase in resuscitation cubicles from four to seven – with one new resus bay dedicated to children.

There will also be a secluded room for patients in mental health crisis, a more comfortable observation area and two supportive relatives’ rooms set away from the bustle of the main department.

Work is also underway to improve urgent and emergency care for under 18s, with the Trust also set to open a new Children’s Emergency Unit, which is the first of its kind on the hospital site, later this year.

The Children’s Emergency Unit will have 13 cubicles, two high acuity bays and one resuscitation bay (an increase of 33 per cent), a baby and breastfeeding room, a sensory plan room for children who are neurodiverse and a wellbeing room for younger patients arriving in mental health crisis.

Natalie Lawrence, Lead Nurse for the urgent and emergency care development, said: “It’s a really exciting time for the organisation, as we move towards a real improvement to our delivery of care for some of the sickest patients in the local area.

“We have made big changes to the way we provide this care in the new department, and are now looking at how we can better streamline services to make them more efficient, and to ensure that patients are treated in the right place, first time.

“We’ve also been working with local people to ensure that the interiors of the building best meet all care needs, including with representation from the dementia, learning disability and autism communities, children and young persons mental health, carers, wheelchair users and people with neurodiversities.

“This means we have been able to create spaces that are more welcoming and comfortable, and feel less like a clinical hospital setting, as we know that, ultimately, the environment we care for patients in has huge impact on their ongoing recovery.”

Julian Auckland-Lewis, Director for the Trust’s capital development Way Forward Programme, added: “When the hospital was opened in 2002, the Emergency Department was designed to care for around 48,000 patients a year. As the local population has grown, the urgent and emergency services now see over 100,000 patients a year – more than double.

“It is hoped that the increase in physical capacity in the new departments, and new ways of working that are more innovative and efficient, will result in shorter waiting times for our patients and less ambulances queuing to handover patients.

“We also continue to work hard with our partners in the Trust’s own Integrated Care Alliance Coordination Centre, and more widely across Swindon and Wiltshire, to ensure patients are treated in the right place, have ongoing care packages in place outside of hospital and don’t spend any longer in hospital than is needed; all of which improve flow through the healthcare system and help to reduce the time people wait at the front door.”