Her Majesty The Queen officially opens Great Western Hospitals urgent and emergency care development

Her Majesty The Queen today officially opened Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s urgent and emergency care development.

Queen Camilla was given a tour of the Emergency Department, Medical Assessment Unit and Children’s Emergency Unit, where Her Majesty met a number of patients including four-year-old Jackson James and his mother in the Children’s Emergency Unit infant feeding room.

Queen Camilla then joined a reception, and met groups of staff from across the organisation, along with some of our charitable donors.

The £33.5 million urgent and emergency care expansion opened to the public in the autumn of 2024, and six months on, HM The Queen commemorated the occasion by unveiling a plaque alongside a pupil, Latoyah Vashi, nine, from the neighbouring Badbury Park Primary School.

The development is the biggest ever investment to the hospital site and follows the opening of the Urgent Treatment Centre and OUH Radiotherapy @ Swindon Centre in 2022, which already represent a huge investment in Swindon’s healthcare infrastructure.

With a 60 per cent bigger footprint, the new Emergency Department, Children’s Emergency Unit and Medical Assessment Unit, will ensure unplanned healthcare provision is fit for the increasing demand and growing population of the town.

The new Emergency Department has an increase in ‘majors cubicles’ from 15 to 22, which are more private with glass doors instead of curtains, and individual environmental controls such as dimmable lighting.

To support patients in a more critical or life-threatening condition, there has been an increase in resuscitation cubicles from four to seven – with one new resus bay dedicated to children.

There is also a secluded room for patients in mental health crisis, a more comfortable observation area and two supportive relatives’ rooms set away from the bustle of the main department.

The Children’s Emergency Unit, which is a first for the Trust, has 13 cubicles, two high acuity bays and one resuscitation bay (an increase of 33 per cent), an infant feeding room, a sensory plan room for children who are neurodiverse and a wellbeing room for younger patients arriving in mental health crisis. During her visit, Queen Camilla met a
patient in the unit and heard from staff about the improved environment has helped provide better care.

Chairman Liam Coleman said: “We are thrilled that Her Majesty The Queen visited us here in Swindon today, to mark such a significant moment in our Trust history.

“It took over five years of hard work to bring our new urgent and emergency care development to life, and I want to thank everyone who has helped us get to today, creating a new department that will benefit the people of Swindon and Wiltshire for years to come.

“Thank you to Her Majesty The Queen for taking the time to unveil a plaque and meet with so many of our fantastic staff and patients, to the children of Badbury Park Primary School and to other local dignitaries who have also given their time to join us today.”