Patients needing surgery will benefit from a £280,000 investment at Southport hospital from this month.

Work completed last week on the Surgical Assessment Unit on Ward 10B which will be fully operational by the beginning of October.

Kath Higgins, Head of Nursing for Planned Care, said: “This is a new, dedicated space for patients with urgent referrals for surgery as well as some patients arriving for planned procedures. It will be more convenient for them, their families and the staff who treat them. Because the unit can only be used for surgical patients, it will also mean fewer cancellations.”

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust has also begun work on the final phase of an extension and refurbishment to A&E at Southport hospital. There will be a bigger reception and waiting area, and a much-needed additional clinical assessment space to support the timely handover of patients arriving by ambulance. It is part of a £1.25m investment that includes the eight-bed Clinical Decision Unit opened in the spring.

A&E will continue to operate as usual during the work which is due to finish by late November. Drop-off parking immediately outside the department is unavailable until then.

Southport hospital is also replacing an ageing CT scanner. The £350,000 contract is part of a wholesale review of the radiology estate which will see the Southport hospital MRI scanner replaced in 2019 and the Ormskirk CT scanner in 2022.