Major upgrade on cards for hospital’s A&E unit
MACCLESFIELD Hospital’s A&E could be set for a major refurbishment to ‘bring the department standards up to meet current guidance.’
East Cheshire NHS Trust wants to extend the department to provide additional patient capacity on the ground floor.
There will also be a first floor extension to house a new plant room.
This is necessary for upgraded mechanical and electrical equipment, which will help modernise the A&E department and reduce transmission of infections such as Covid.
A planning application for the project has been submitted by the trust to Cheshire East Council.
With it is a design and access statement from Gilling Dodd Architects, which says: “The proposed refurbishment of the existing A&E of Macclesfield District General intends to provide better patient pathways and bring the department standards up to meet current guidance.
“The proposed [plan] has been identified by the trust as meeting the current and future needs of the unit.”
Most of the refurbishment will take place within the existing building.
The department will occupy the same floor area as previously on the ground floor of the main hospital building below the newly refurbished intensive care unit. The intensive care unit itself was subject of a planning application itself last year ahead of the £2.1 refurbishment.
As part of the latest proposals the A&E department would have a new entrance as well as a separate entrance for paediatric patients.
Plans were drawn up for the refurbishment following a series of meetings with ‘key trust stakeholders.’
The council is expected to decide on the application by early October. Comments can be submitted as part of public consultation until September 14.
“The proposed [plan] has been identified by the trust as meeting the current and future needs of the unit.”