The trust running Ipswich Hospital has announced the new multi-million-pound emergency unit is set to open in early September.
The improvement is a part of £52million redevelopment works at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs Ipswich Hospital.
A portion of this money has been allocated to making a new urgent treatment centre (UTC) and emergency department (ED).
The trust has initially said that the UTC and ED units were set to open this summer, but now has given a more specific timing, saying early September.
The trust's chief executive Nick Hulme had previously said: “The opening of the new urgent emergency care centre at Ipswich Hospital this summer is a major milestone.
“The construction of the new urgent emergency care centre will improve the experience of patients using our services."
Once opened, the UTC will be based in a new two-storey building next to the Garrett Anderson building at the Heath Road site.
It will offer treatment for a range of urgent but not life-threatening conditions.
The new facility will cater for an estimated 50,000 patients who arrive at A&E each year with conditions that could be safely managed elsewhere - such as sprains, fever and vomiting.
The aim of this is to free up the emergency department to focus on more serious incidents.
This comes after the news that ESNEFT had seen its highest A&E wait times in five years in the past winter.
ESNEFT announced the new centre in 2019 and said it would have a single front door for all walk-in urgent and emergency patients, making sure they are assigned to the right teams.
The UTC will also have a new CT scanner, which is part of a separate £3.2m investment in diagnostic technology which would also include an MRI scanner.
This development will also pave the way for a new musculoskeletal department, bringing together rheumatology, spinal services and trauma and orthopaedics under one roof.
Additional developments to the hospital also include a new main entrance, breast care centre and children’s department.
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