Work to build new £58m emergency department at QA Hospital in Portsmouth to begin after full planning permission granted

Portsmouth City Council has granted full planning permission for a brand new and expanded emergency department (ED) at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

Supported by £58 million of national funding, the new ED will provide a range of new and improved facilities including double the current resuscitation capacity from four adult bays to eight for patients needing treatment for critical conditions.

It will also provide two further paediatric resuscitation bays for children, a new CT scanner for patients requiring a specialist scan, and faster access to our radiology team for scans and tests.

Penny Emerit, chief executive of Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, said: ‘I’m really excited to see us reach the next important step in providing an effective, modern and welcoming ED facility for our whole community.

‘We will have the opportunity to implement best practice for patients needing urgent and emergency care, continue to improve patient safety and allow colleagues to work in a more streamlined way.’

The new design will also give nursing teams better visibility across the department enabling faster decision-making by clinicians, meaning people visiting the department will receive the treatment they need in a timely way.

Adults and children will be treated in single rooms, improving privacy and dignity and enabling any patient with symptoms of Covid-19 or other potentially infectious conditions to be isolated quickly.

It is planned the new department will also be energy-efficient, include easy-to-understand signage and wayfinding for visitors, and provide staff with dedicated rest areas to support their wellbeing.

As reported, outline planning permission for the ED was granted in July for the replacement of the existing multi-storey staff car park for the new three-storey building with ambulance access – however, this application sought final permission from the council to go ahead with the project through approval of building designs and landscaping arrangements.

The application set out the layout of the new building with walk-in entrances to the urgent care and paediatric centres and an ambulance-only entrance for more seriously ill patients which will cater for an increased number of vehicles.

The building will be sited on the current east car park and construction work will begin in September 2022.

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