First look inside Great Western Hospitals' £32million A&E being built in Swindon

  • Watch: Great Western Hospitals shared a fly-through video of its new emergency department

Construction work on a new multi-million-pound accident and emergency department being built in Swindon is "continuing at pace".

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the interior structures of its new £32million emergency department are "starting to take shape" and the "roof is now poured".

Earlier this year, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was awarded £26.3million by the government to expand the provision of urgent and emergency care.

The remaining £5.4million was supplied by the Trust itself.

Construction work began in 2022 and it is hoped the project will be complete by September 2024.

The urgent and emergency care expansion will be the biggest ever investment to the hospital site. Credit: Great Western Hospitals Trust NHS Foundation

The project marks the biggest expansion plan in the hospital's history.

The improvements include expanding the Emergency Department and relocating services to improve links between all sections of the department.

It will also improve links between the Emergency Department and the new Urgent Treatment Centre, which opened in July 2022.

There will also be a new children's Emergency Unit which will combine the current children's Emergency Department and Paediatric Assessment Unit.

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the roof has now been poured. Credit: Great Western Hospitals Trust NHS Foundation

When the hospital opened in 2002, the Emergency Department was designed to care for around 48,000 patients a year.

Now, the urgent and emergency services see over 100,000 patients a year - more the double.

The Trust hopes the expansion will reduce pressure on the emergency department, by increasing the available bed capacity, speeding up the discharge process, and creating quicker handover times for ambulance crews.

Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive said the project is an "extraordinary milestone" for the trust.

He added: "Expanding and improving our urgent and emergency care services will make. a huge difference to the 750,000 people living in Swindon and the wider area that we serve, many of whom will come to us for care at some point in their lives".