New emergency department opens

The images date back as far as 1910 Credit: The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

The new emergency department at Leicester Royal Infirmary opened this morning.

The £48 million state of the art facility has taken two and a half years to complete and has been designed to reduce stress for its patients.

Last year, a record 240,000 people used the department and it is hoped the new building will better serve the city's growing population.

These nurses worked at the hospital in 1915. Credit: The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Phase two of the development will start in a couple of weeks. Credit: The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

The design includes rubber flooring rather than vinyl. Should someone fall, the impact is 15% less likely to cause a serious injury.

There are also purpose-built rooms for patients with dementia or mental health issues.

Phase two of the development will begin in a couple of weeks and will open in May 2018.

Credit: The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Other highlights include:

  • 13 ambulance bays and a separate entrance for ambulances with no public access.

  • A waiting area in the adults' department for 130 people and 94 in the children's department, which includes a teenage waiting area.

  • Seven treatment rooms for GPs and five rooms for ophthalmologists as part of the newly dedicated eye casualty.

  • Three high dependency bays in the children's emergency department.

This was the nurses' classroom circa 1920. Credit: The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust