Work starts on new unit for 'sickest patients'

Construction on a new hospital department, which a trust says will care for some of its "sickest patients", has begun.

The Department of Critical Care at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital will initially provide 24 critical care beds and is expected to treat more than 1,500 patients a year.

It will replace the hospital's existing critical care unit and include specialist isolation rooms, upgraded facilities for families and improved staff wellbeing spaces.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the unit in Gloucester is "designed to meet growing demand for critical care services, driven by an ageing population and increasing numbers of patients with complex health needs".

The isolation rooms will contain specialised ventilation systems, allowing patients who are infectious or particularly vulnerable to infection to be cared for safely.

It is hoped the purpose-built unit will expand to provide 36 beds in the future.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust said the expansion will support its wider hospital improvement programme, including major fire safety works at the Tower Block.

"Critical care services will continue to operate across both Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals during the transition," the trust said.

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