THE newly refurbished and extended accident and emergency department at York Hospital is set to reopen.

Work on the new £18 million upgrade - initially set to cost £15 million - was set to be completed by the end of April this year.

It is now set to open officially next Friday (July 7) with senior sister Margaret Locker doing the honours.

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Margaret has served for more than 52 years with the NHS, all of which have been with the York trust, having started her nursing career with in 1971. As part of her career, she treated the first patient in the current emergency department when it originally opened in 2003.

The opening will mark the culmination of the trust's NHS75 birthday celebrations.

York Press: A CGI showing how the new A&E will lookA CGI showing how the new A&E will look

The extension will expand and reconfigure the emergency department’s urgent care facilities to increase capacity and improve patient care. It will see a new eight bed resuscitation area along with improvements to both the waiting room and the consultation and treatment areas.

It will include 12 new assessment and treatment cubicles where staff can meet patients when they arrive, and a dedicated safe room for mental health patients.

Gary Kitching, Consultant and Clinical Director in Emergency Medicine at York and Scarborough Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, previously told The Press: “These much-needed improvements will make an enormous difference to the department.

"As well as twelve new assessment and treatment cubicles, where patients will be met by the senior team as soon as they arrive, there will be a dedicated safe room for mental health patients.

“The new resuscitation zone is a huge upgrade, increasing our capacity significantly, with a dedicated area for children. There will also be a new infectious diseases cubicle that includes a point of care testing laboratory and glazed cubicles for privacy and infection control.”

York Press: Gary KitchingGary Kitching