Cheltenham A&E to re-open as part of phased return

The department will re-open on Wednesday 9 June as a consultant-led service seven days a week between the hours of 8am – 8pm but remain closed overnight. The overnight nurse-led service will re-open on Wednesday 30 June. This means that from 1 July 2021 Cheltenham A&E will be returned to its pre-Pandemic state, in line with commitments we have made publicly and as agreed with our local Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Currently the Cheltenham A&E department operates as a Minor Injuries and Illness Unit (MIIU) from 8am – 8pm seven days a week and is closed overnight. Gloucestershire Royal Hospital has a full A&E department open 24 hours a day.

• The temporary changes to A&E at Cheltenham were introduced last summer as part of the hospitals response to the pandemic.
• To support the re-opening of Cheltenham A&E a number of other services be will restored including medical admissions to Cheltenham.

Meanwhile Cheltenham is also set to benefit from a £6.5 million pound investment in its radiology department which means emergency patients accessing A&E will benefit from faster, more accurate and better diagnostic tests such as X-rays and MRI scans. Patients coming for surgery will also benefit. The improvement works, which have already started and are scheduled to be completed in the autumn, include three new CT scanners, an additional MRI scanner and a much improved physical environment.

Professor Mark Pietroni, Director of Safety and Medical Director at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“The A&E service in Cheltenham is very well regarded in the east of the county so this announcement will come as welcome news.

“The re-instatement of the service to an A&E department will be done over a three week period in June to ensure the smooth and safe transition.

“We are confident that these measures have reduced Covid-19 transmission among staff and patients and have enabled us to continue to provide planned care and cancer diagnosis and treatment, especially to those patients who are most vulnerable.

“The success of these changes has been demonstrated in many ways including our 62-day and two-week wait cancer performance standards where we have been one of the best performers in the country in seeing and treating patients referred to us by their GP.

“The public have also played their part in helping make our hospitals as safe as possible by following national guidance and being responsive to advice locally when accessing care.

“These measures mean we are in a stronger position as we begin to emerge from the pandemic and look to recover the elective work postponed to make way for COVID patients.”