Patients have been treated in an £18.6 million hospital ward block for the first time.

The two-storey facility at Lister Hospital in Stevenage has 62 inpatient beds, half of which have en suite bathrooms.

Jasvir Mangat from Hitchin was the first patient to be treated in the acute cardiac unit on the first floor after it opened last week, with the ground floor’s acute medical unit following suit two days later.

The block includes 14 specialist trolleys on the ground floor to be used by patients referred from GPs or transferred from the emergency department, as well as specialist cardiac facilities above.

The redevelopment forms part of a £150m overhaul of Lister’s services by the East and North Herts NHS Trust, which includes a newly expanded Hertfordshire Cardiology Centre and an extended A&E department – due to be completed in October.

The Trust’s chief executive Nick Carver said: “Situated at the front of the hospital, our new ward block is a very visual reminder to everyone – patients and staff – of the fantastic new services being created here at the Lister, which rapidly is being transformed in to our main specialist hospital for emergency and inpatient care. The ward block is situated next to the new £19 million emergency department and the Hertfordshire Cardiology Centre, thus creating the Lister’s emergency hub.”

“We know from the very successful changes made already to the Trust’s maternity and emergency surgery services that it is possible to redesign clinical services in ways that provide our patients with better care and improved experience, whilst costing less money to run. For example our new maternity unit is already proving very popular with new mothers and staff alike, yet saves £1m a year in running costs alone.”