News Reader.info

THE 'TEMPORARY' TREATMENT CENTRE WILL BE IN PLACE FOR AT LEAST 18 MONTHS WHILE A PERMANENT BUILDING IS BUILT 16:21, 04 Feb 2025 A temporary urgent treatment centre will be built at

a new hospital after a planning application was given the green light. The plans by the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust would see trailers used as an urgent treatment

centre at the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Smethwick for “approximately” 18 months. Three trailers will be placed at the ‘super’ hospital in Smethwick, which finally

opened last October after years of delays. The trust is waiting for Sandwell Council to decide on a planning application for a permanent building. Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS

Trust said the temporary urgent treatment centre would serve the same function as its proposed permanent facility – assessing patients and directing non-emergency cases away from the

hospital’s main A&E in a bid to cut waiting times. The trust said it acknowledged that planning permission and construction would take a “significant period of time.” The permanent

urgent treatment centre application, submitted in June last year, expected the facility to be open this summer. READ MORE: EMPTY WEDNESBURY PUB COULD NOW BE TURNED INTO HMO AFTER ISLAMIC

TUITION CENTRE PLANS REJECTED READ MORE: 'VERY POOR' RECYCLING RATE COULD COST SANDWELL MILLIONS AS URGENT WARNING ISSUED READ MORE: ATHLETICS STADIUM TO BE DITCHED AND LEISURE

CENTRE CLOSURE REVEALED IN SANDWELL COUNCIL'S COST-CUTTING PLANS Article continues below READ MORE: INSIDE HUGE NEW PLANS SUBMITTED FOR CRUMBLING LEISURE CENTRE'S £24M MAKEOVER

WHICH INCLUDES NEW POOL A letter by planning agents by Turley on behalf of the NHS trust said: “The proposed urgent treatment centre will act as a supplementary building to the main hospital

building to provide capacity to triage patients and direct non-emergency cases away from the emergency department. “The intention is to reduce the number of patients and wait times at the

emergency department and to treat patients with minor injuries. “Acknowledging that receiving permission for the urgent treatment centre and then constructing it will take a significant

period of time, the trust is seeking to develop a temporary urgent treatment centre to ensure capacity to deliver such care in the interim period.” Article continues below The opening of the

Midland Metropolitan University Hospital saw the closure of the A&E at Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich and City Hospital in Birmingham. Sandwell Hospital has since been used as an

urgent treatment centre. Midland Metropolitan University Hospital finally opened in October after years of delays. Work on the hospital started in 2016 and it was expected to open in October

2019 at a cost of about £350m, but the collapse of the original contractor Carillion, rising material costs, the withdrawal of government funding and a shortage of construction workers all

added to the delays. A government audit put the likely cost of building and running the hospital for the first 30 years at nearly £1bn. A plan to build a new 1,300-student £19 million

teaching campus on the hospital site was approved by Sandwell Council in 2023. The campus will provide a range of healthcare training from entry to masters level with links to the new

hospital.