A new multi-million-pound emergency unit is set to open at Ipswich Hospital this summer. 

It is part of £52m 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 UTC will be based in a new two-storey building next to the Garrett Anderson building at the Heath Road site. 

Ipswich Star: The UTC will be place next to the Garrett Anderson building at the Ipswich HospitalThe UTC will be place next to the Garrett Anderson building at the Ipswich Hospital (Image: Archant)

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 there has been a seven per cent increase in people using the accident and emergency centres at the hospital. 

Ipswich Star: Nick Hulme, the chief executive of ESNEFT, called the construction of this new centre a 'milestone'.Nick Hulme, the chief executive of ESNEFT, called the construction of this new centre a 'milestone'. (Image: Sarah Lucy Brownn)

Chief Executive of ESNEFT Nick Hulme 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.

“Having a single front door for all walk-in urgent and emergency patients will help us to make sure they are seen and treated in the right place and at the right time.”

Ipswich Star: The new centre will treat urgent but not life-threatening issues The new centre will treat urgent but not life-threatening issues (Image: Archant)

ESNEFT announced this 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 £3.2 million 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.