The construction of a three-storey pathology centre at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton is well underway.
Construction of the new laboratory and accompanying facilities began in September 2011 and is due to be completed in late 2012, opening in early 2013.
A steel frame is now in place and concrete floors are being installed on all three floors. The main contractor on the 4,160 square metre centre is Morgan Sindall.
The pathology department handles various patient requirements such as blood tests, urine tests, and identifying viral and bacterial infections among patients. Once work is complete the centre will house various pathology functions and facilities including the microbiology, haematology, clinical chemistry and hisopathology units.
It is hoped the new unit will help to reduce patient waiting times as it will be able to handle tests more quickly, allowing patients to be treated sooner and therefore recover faster.
This is not the only work planned at the hospital, which is experiencing higher patient numbers than ever before, as a £27 million critical care unit is also planned, which will include a £10m accident and emergency centre.
In addition, a £550,000 extension will be built for the pre-operative assessment unit, beginning in October 2012. This new unit will provide separate male and female lounges for patients before they go into surgery and also discharge lounge facilities for patients recovering from surgery.
To accompany the project, the construction of a multi-million pound multi-storey car park, beginning in November 2012, will also create hundreds of new parking spaces. These developments are part of a £400 million transformation of New Cross Hospital.
Chief Executive of Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, David Loughton said:
“It’s great to see this project taking shape on a daily basis. This is going to be a really important facility and is another significant project in our redevelopment of the New Cross site.”
