A new £17.3million Emergency Department (ED) is on track to open at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital next Spring.

Bosses said it will help cut down waiting times and queuing ambulances but stressed more work is needed to solve the "root causes" of these issues.

The revamped department will include 23 major patient cubicles, seven triage rooms, six minors treatment rooms, six paediatric rooms, dedicated patient bays, specialist rooms for mental health and a fracture and orthopaedics unit with additional clinical rooms.

Contractors Kiers having completed two extensions onto the existing building which will open in the autumn enabling the redesign to start.

Dr Helen Mansfield, ED consultant, said: "Our resuscitation area, where we treat our sickest patients, will double in size enabling us to flow through our patients much more effectively.

"We will also be providing specialised areas for patients in a mental health crisis.

"We know that when patients are having a crisis, they benefit from being in the right environment. Having more secluded and private rooms will support this."

The work is part of a £100m-plus development program which aims to see the county's specialist services rival and exceed university hospitals in big cities.

It has already seen a £6.5m revamp of the radiology department at Cheltenham General Hospital and £1m Medical Same Day Emergency Care unit at Gloucestershire Royal completed along with the opening of the £4.5m Gallery 2 Ward for dementia patients .

Work is now underway on a £17.2million surgical complex  at Cheltenham General Hospital which is set to open in the new year and help deal with the pandemic backlog of operations.

Professor Mark Pietroni, medical director and interim CEO of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are happy with the progress to date across both sites and when this programme is completed it will bring with it many benefits for patients as well as staff.

"The new ED will mean patients flow through the department more smoothly, helping to ease some of the pressures with queuing ambulances and long waits, although it is important to stress that it won't resolve these issues.

"The root causes are deeper and we will continue to work closely with our teams and system partners on improving the situation."