Patient care is set to be transformed with waiting times for scans significantly reduced following an announcement today that £18m will be invested in emergency care facilities at our Trust.

As well as paying for new MRI and CT scanners for the Emergency Department, the funds will enable the children’s wards at Hull Royal Infirmary to move into the Women and Children’s hospital.

It is the biggest capital investment in facilities at the Trust for a decade and comes just two years after the Emergency Department itself was completely rebuilt. With a dedicated helipad almost complete at the rear of the Hull Royal Site, Hull’s status as a major trauma centre will be further enhanced as dedicated scanning facilities are provided on site. This will considerably reduce turnaround times for patients ensuring their journey through our hospitals is more efficient and help us to get patients in the right bed, first time.

Where the paediatric facilities are concerned patients and their families will benefit from having inpatient and outpatient facilities in the same dedicated building. Specialist nursing and medical care will be provided in one place for the first time since the construction of the Women and Children’s Hospital in 2002.

The Trust is benefitting from a share of £88.5m capital secured by the Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership (STP) which will also see a major upgrade of the Emergency Departments in Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Scarborough.

Duncan Taylor, Director of Estates, Facilities and Development at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“This capital investment will help us create first-class facilities, enabling us to deliver fantastic healthcare for our patients and an unrivalled working environment for our dedicated staff.

“Our current scanners are old, prone to breakdown and we don’t have enough of them. This has a knock-on effect on patients who have appointments cancelled or have to wait longer than we would like. The public understand we could only work with what we had but it was not the service our staff wanted to provide for patients.

“Purchasing additional CT and MRI scanners will not only allow staff to see and treat more patients, people will not have to wait as long.

“We’ll also be able to reshape paediatric services, bringing together our children’s wards and services under one roof at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital. This will make a massive difference to patients and families.

“This capital investment will allow us to enhance the wonderful facilities we already have in our Emergency Departments, which are among the best in the country following a £12m refurbishment in 2016.

“We will also be able to create additional capacity in our Acute Medical Unit to improve patient flow should people coming to the Emergency Department require admission.”

Mike Proctor, Chair of the Humber, Coast and Vale Strategic Estates Board and Chief Executive of York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “This is great news for local people across our region and will enable us to make the changes we need to make to improve the way our emergency departments function.

“We will be able to see more patients more quickly, and ensure people receive an accurate diagnosis for their condition as quickly as possible.”