Expansion of Charing Cross Hospital A&E planned

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has announced that the A&E department at Charing Cross Hospital will get redeveloped thanks to a £7.2 million investment.

The trust say that the redevelopment will increase the number of rooms in the urgent care centre from seven to nine, the number of ‘majors’ cubicles in the emergency department from 12 to 15 and the number of resuscitation bays in the emergency department from five to eight. It will also create two new mental health rooms.

The investment will help reduce overcrowding and long waits at times of peak demand, providing more space for patients to be assessed and treated and expand capacity for ambulatory emergency care. This will allow us to continue to increase the proportion of patients who are assessed and treated without needing to be seen in the emergency department or to be admitted to a ward.

Tim Orchard, who has just been appointed chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “This is a significant investment for Charing Cross Hospital which will bring real improvements in care for our patients and a better working environment for our staff. Our facilities have not kept pace with the consolidated rise in demand over recent years. Last year, we expanded St Mary’s A&E and we are now making it a priority to do the same at Charing Cross so that we have additional capacity in place in time for the coming winter.

“As health needs continue to change, linked to the growth in our older population and those with a number of long term conditions, our services need to evolve too. Our ambulatory emergency care service is an important part of this story, as are our frailty clinics and other new services being developed in partnership with our primary, mental health and community care partners.”