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From tomorrow, Tuesday, access to the Day Patient Unit at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital will be via the Emergency Department entrance.
The current entrance to the Day Patient Unit is being closed indefinitely, other than for use as an emergency fire escape, to allow for construction work on the site, which is due to begin in the spring.
The change requires minor adjustments inside the Day Patient Unit, including relocating the reception desk and waiting area to be next to the new entrance, which is just in from the main hospital corridor.
Patients are being sent flyers with their appointment letters to advise them of the changes. New signs have been installed to direct patients to the new reception area.
Construction on the hospital modernisation project is due to start shortly. It includes an extension to the main PEH building, which will accommodate a new Critical Care Unit.
The Day Patient Unit outside entrance is being closed for safety reasons due to its close proximity to the construction site.
Pictured: The Committee for Health & Social Care is leading the programme to modernise the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.
Jan Coleman, Director of Hospital Modernisation, said: “It’s business as usual for the Day Patient Unit, other than now being accessed from within the hospital building, with a new reception desk. Alongside that we’ve made a few small changes within to ensure the natural flow of patients and everything is well signposted.”
Over the next six years, a number of upgrades to the PEH are due to be completed over two main phases of work with all hospital services continuing to run as normal throughout. This significant modernisation programme was unanimously supported by the States' Assembly in March 2019.
Demand now exceeds capacity at the PEH and facilities need to be brought up to acceptable modern standards.
A tender process is nearing completion for the construction of the first phase of the modernisation programme. The tender process takes into account the need to maintain hospital services and limit disruption to patients and staff.
A new purpose-built Day Patient Unit is included in a future phase of the modernisation programme which has not yet been approved by the States' Assembly.
Pictured (top): The Princess Elizabeth Hospital's Emergency Department entrance.
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