£7.5m revamp to transform A&E at Countess of Chester

A major £7.5 million plan to improve emergency care at the Countess of Chester Hospital has been unveiled, with building work set to begin in the coming weeks.

The investment is aimed at reducing waiting times and improving patient experiences by offering faster access to the right type of care.

As part of the upgrade, a new assessment hub will be built at the entrance to the Emergency Department and Same Day Emergency Care Centre.

The facility will act as a central triage point, ensuring patients are directed swiftly to the appropriate service. It’s hoped the system will ease pressure on the Emergency Department by redirecting suitable cases to the Urgent Treatment Centre.

A separate three-bed area is also being developed to better support patients with more complex health needs.

This new unit will include three clinical rooms, an assessment space and a shower room, designed to provide safe and comfortable care.

An adjoining outdoor area is also being created as a calm space for patients, offering respite from the main emergency department.

Further improvements include the addition of a new adult resuscitation bay and a dedicated paediatric resuscitation area within the children’s section, helping to accommodate families during critical moments and ensuring timely treatment for seriously unwell patients.

In a move already benefiting patient flow, the hospital opened an upgraded and expanded Discharge Lounge in February.

The space now includes new bed bays, a more welcoming environment and a satellite pharmacy to speed up medication processing.

Once patients are ready to leave hospital, they will transfer to the lounge for final preparations before heading home.

Cathy Chadwick, Chief Operating Officer at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are determined to ensure patients get the right care in the right place and that we are offering a positive experience, with safe and comfortable environments in our emergency care departments.

“These exciting and ambitious new plans will create facilities that better suit the needs of our patients and are set to transform the way we provide urgent and emergency care. We want to reduce waiting times, and these improvements will set us up for the future to ensure we can achieve long term change for our patients.”

Construction on the emergency care upgrades is expected to begin in the coming weeks, with the full scheme due for completion by summer.