We are making significant improvements to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, creating a number of new, purpose-built facilities, alongside an extensive refurbishment programme in our existing buildings.
We have now welcomed our first patients to our new Grimsby Emergency Department.
On Wednesday, October 5, the £17.9 million unit became operational, providing us with modern, well-equipped facilities, that are twice the size of our existing department.
The 2,255m² building was designed in conjunction with our clinical teams, to create a bespoke space that’s purpose built to meet the needs of our communities both now and in the future.
Features include:
- An increased waiting area to cope with demand and social distancing requirements
- A dedicated play area for our younger patients
- More cubicles, which have been designed to enable flexible use, which will help us manage surges in patient numbers and make it easier to meet individual patient needs.
- A dedicated ambulance bay, reducing the time to transfer patients arriving by ambulance into the hospital
Senior Responsible Officer for the project and Director of Estates and Facilities, Jug Johal, has overseen the project.
He said: “Our number one priority will always be to give you the best possible care, and this new unit will give our teams the space, facilities, and equipment they need to provide this.
“It looks absolutely fantastic, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in the project. I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved.
“It’s also important to remember that this is just phase one of a larger programme of works.
“Very shortly, we will begin transforming what was our Emergency Department into bespoke units that will work in conjunction with our new Emergency Department, so that you get the right care, from the right clinician more quickly.
“This area will be transformed into a new bespoke unit to house our Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC), and Acute Assessment Units.
“It is not always necessary for some patients to go into the Emergency Department at all, as we can potentially direct you straight to one of these areas.
“Having these areas co-located with our Emergency Department will make a huge difference, as it will help us to ensure you are seen by the best clinician for your needs more quickly.”
More to come
Now we have moved into the new Emergency Department, we will begin work on converting our current A&E department into a new Acute Assessment Unit (AAU).
The new unit will be staffed by expert clinicians in a wide variety of disciplines.
This will allow us to diagnose you more quickly and get you on the right course of treatment, without necessarily having to admit you to a ward first in order to access this expertise.
This will help us to reduce the number of people we admit and the amount of time you’re likely to spend in hospital but you’ll still receive excellent standards of care.
The £24.86 million for these units was announced in 2020 and is now in the process of being released to us following the approval of the final business case.
Green future
As part of the project we’ve built a single-storey decked car park outside the main entrance, which opened in February 2022.
We’ve also extended the public car park around the Family Services building.
Additional staff parking has also been created behind the restaurant and on the former IT building near the Second Avenue entrance to the site.
We have also invested a further £3.5 million in replacing our fire alarm system and making vital improvements to our water infrastructure.
What’s happening now
Now the festive break is over, the next phase of work is starting in the old Emergency Department (A&E).
The first stage will be to demolish the internal walls and remove the old services.
The team will be using reduced noise electrical equipment wherever possible, but a bit of disruption is inevitable, so thank you in advance for your patience during this part of the works.
We are also continuing work on the new main entrance and link between the main hospital and new Emergency Department, where you will soon start to see a new glass curtain wall being installed.
I’m coming to Grimsby Hospital – what do I need to know?
We now have two separate drop off points, one for the Emergency Department and one for the main hospital.
The access route to the main car park has also changed.
You can get all the latest information on parking here
Buses are still coming into the site at the usual times and stop next to the clock tower.
If you don’t have an issue getting around, why not take advantage of our FREE car park on the former Scartho Baths site off Scartho Road? It’s just a short walk away or, if you’d rather, there’s a bus stop right outside where you can hop on a bus straight into the hospital grounds.
