Our first patients move into Wexham Park’s new emergency assessment centre on 23 February.

The medical and surgical short stay units on the second floor will be the first services to open in the state-of-the-art building.

All patients from the surgical assessment unit (Christiansen Unit) within the man hospital will transfer to the EAC.

And medical patients from Ward 8 who are expected to be ready to be discharged within 72 hours will also move.

Ward 8 will remain open as a smaller, 24-hour ward until it transfers to the EAC’s acute assessment unit on 9 March, where it will be located on the second floor alongside the emergency ambulatory care unit.

Our new emergency department will open on the ground floor of the EAC on 3 April.

Developer Kier began construction work in April 2017 and the £49m building was officially handed to the Trust at the end of January this year.

It is an urgent care building that includes a range of A&E services, 24-hour assessments and short stay medical and surgical care. For the first time, these disciplines will be under one roof, increasing collaboration between doctors, nurses and clinical teams.

The concept was developed by Frimley Health clinicians and designed entirely around modern patient needs, where more people are presenting with multiple, complex conditions. These often require a multidisciplinary approach, so the new design will help to diagnose and treat patients better and faster.

New patient pathways have been developed to make care more efficient and allow patients to be cared for more quickly in the right place. For example patients may be brought directly to a ward via a GP without going to A&E or be given necessary tests and medication during the day so they can safely return home without needing to be admitted to a ward.

The EAC is the second major construction project at Wexham Park following a £10m upgrade to maternity and gynaecology services, officially opened by Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke in January 2018.