£19 million transformation at Stevenage hospital is nearly complete

One of the final pieces of the jigsaw at Lister Hospital’s expanded A&E department slots into place next week, all but completing a £19 million transformation.

The new children’s area within the overall emergency department at the Coreys Mills Lane site is scheduled to open next Thursday, October 8.

And then health chiefs will be counting the days until they can begin work on the last job, creating a CT scanner service within the department, which is due to start later this month and be ready for action by the beginning of December.

The new-look department features a state-of-the-art resuscitation area – which includes an over-the-bed x-ray machine so that very ill people can be X-rayed on the spot - as well as separate areas to treat adult patients with major and minor illness and injuries and the dedicated area for children.

The new-look department has been designed to cope with the higher patient numbers expected once the A&E unit at Welwyn Garden City’s QEII hospital is downgraded to an urgent care centre this week.

Now all the area’s emergency cases will be coming to Stevenage, with acute medical and cardiac units already up and running in the nearby new ward block at the hospital, which also boasts a 24/7 heart attack centre.

Emergency department consultant Dr Jon Baker said: “It has been a very challenging time for both patients and staff. We’ve had to move locations within the department on two occasions during the last 12 months or so to enable contractors to begin work on a new section.

“Our patients are now being seen in some of the best facilities available anywhere in the region, if not the NHS. We’re using state-of-the-art technology to help save lives while at the same time helping those with less pressing conditions get fast and effective treatment in modern, fit-for-purpose surroundings.

“And with urgent care services for minor injuries and illnesses now in place at the Lister, these patients can also be seen and treated more quickly than otherwise might have been the case.”