WESTON General Hospital (WGH) will be expanding its urgent and emergency care services to treat its patients more efficiently.

The hospital is part of the University Hospitals Bristol & Weston (UHBW) NHS Foundation Trust, which has received nearly £5 million from NHS England.

It is hoped that the grant will help patients receive treatment for conditions that can be rapidly diagnosed and treated, so that they can go home without being admitted to a ward.

WGH opened its Same Day Emergency Care Unit (SDEC) in 2023. Since then, it has cared for over 7,000 patients, 95 per cent of which were able to go home on the same day they got treated. It is this unit which will be expanded.

This will prevent unnecessary stays at the hospital and will mean that people can recover in the comfort of their own homes.

In turn, this could reduce wait times and increase overall hospital capacity.

Speaking back in 2023 when the unit was opened, Paula Clarke, UHBW executive managing director at WGH, said: “The local population is growing and there are significant inequalities within our communities.

"It is essential that we deliver a new model of emergency care that is better able to meet these changing health and care needs.

Judith Hernandez del Pino, UHBW hospital director at WGH, said: “Matching services to the needs of the community is key, and this huge investment will benefit many people in Weston and North Somerset.

“This investment will enable us to support a greater number of patients who can come to us, receive treatment and go back to the comfort of their own homes to recover with their loved ones.”

Dr Jim Portal, UHBW clinical chair at WGH, said: “The increased SDEC capacity will have benefits for the wider emergency department and inpatient wards, increasing overall hospital capacity and improving hospital flow, which we believe will, in turn, benefit the communities we serve and the patients we care for.”

The work, which will begin as soon as possible, is expected to be complete by autumn 2024.