Work has begun to redesign the reception area of the Emergency Department at Hereford County Hospital to improve patients’ experience while in the unit.

Along with other hospitals in England, Hereford County Hospital has experienced increasing numbers of patients attending the ED and is expecting the traditional surge in patients visiting now that winter is drawing near.

The Trust is working partnership with Taurus, a local healthcare provider, to increase the size of the clinical workforce to give patients a better experience and faster access to urgent care.

Construction workers moved onto site over the weekend and have now begun the work to redesign the Emergency Department reception area which expands the waiting area and provides additional clinic rooms for patient assessments.

“We’re working with our contractors to keep any disturbance to a minimum,” said Lynne Kedward, the Trust’s deputy chief operating officer.

The building work on the extension should be complete early in the New Year. This will be followed by two months of internal work to reconfigure the current Emergency Department.

“We apologies for any inconvenience this may cause,” said Lynne, “but we’re doing all we can to keep patients flowing through our Emergency Department and this extension has the potential to make a really positive difference.”