Demolition work to remove the canopy at Walsall Manor Hospital’s Emergency Department entrance is scheduled to take place this week as another important phase of the multi-million pound improvement project gets underway.
A controlled, overnight demolition will take place between 10pm on Wednesday 25 November and 10am on Thursday 26 November. This means there will be no access to the Emergency Department via the front doors.
During these hours, patients will need to use the entrance at Imaging A and the internal route to the main ED reception desk. Security staff will be located in this area to direct patients accordingly during these hours.
Ned Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer and Lead Executive for the £36m Emergency Department and Acute Medical Unit development said: “We ask people to please bear with us during this short demolition period which has been timed to minimise inconvenience to patients who need to come to ED.
“This is another important element of the work that is being carried out to transform our vital healthcare services and we thank people for their patience.”
The demolition will not affect the MRI Entrance, or ED Ambulance entrance which are both within the same area. During this week there will also be a cherry picker working on the front entrance to carry out some initial surveying and isolate some services but this will not affect access.
Interserve Construction has been appointed to build the development which will incorporate a new Emergency Department with “front door” access to a new Urgent Treatment Centre and Paediatric Assessment Unit within it. The first floor will then provide a new Acute Medical Unit along with a Medical Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit, within the refurbished existing Emergency Department footprint.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is expecting a yearly increase in ED attendances of more than 10,000 patients once the Midland Metropolitan Hospital is open in 2022 and the new development is a much-needed improvement on the trust’s current, significantly outdated department.