PLANS have been lodged for a £2m extension to the A&E department at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

It comes after emergency attendances at the Liverpool Road site more than doubled in the past 36 years.

In 2017/18 NHS figures show there were 78,826 attendances – a rise of 10,642 over the five years since 2012/13.

The new 400 square metre extension would be tagged onto the south side of the existing building and include a new entrance, waiting area, children’s area, ambulance bay and canopy.

Existing car parks would also be expanded to provide 135 new spaces, 54 of which would replace those lost in the expansion project.

Bosses say road alterations would be introduced to help the flow of traffic, which can often hold up blue light ambulances coming onto the site.

The project would be funded by a £2m grant from the Department of Health and Social Care.

In documents lodged with Cheshire West and Chester Council, Richard Baird, the divisional director for diagnostics and infrastructure at the trust that runs the Countess, said: “The current A&E department was designed in 1982, since then the number of attendances has more than doubled.

“To meet existing demand and to be ‘future ready’ it is vital that the hospital extends the building, redesigns the area for ambulances and increases the number of car parking spaces.”

He added: “The most recent analysis of A&E attendances shows that 20 per cent of the cases are under 17 years old. To comply with modern standards for emergency departments children must have their own areas to safeguard them in public spaces.”

At 1,700, there are currently said to be too few parking spaces on the Countess site. It employs 3,700 staff and notches up 155,000 inpatient days and 350,000 outpatient attendances every year.

Chief Operating Officer Lorraine Burnett said the new plans would make a “huge difference to patients and staff”.

She said: “Our A&E was built in the 1990s to cater for 120 patients a day, but now it is not only over 20 years old it’s also dealing with almost double that amount of patients every day.

“As a result, our A&E facilities have been in need of refurbishment for some time. We’ve been working hard to find a breakthrough with this and this is the first step to creating the top quality A&E that our patients and staff deserve.”

Subject to planning approval, building work will be completed in phases to limit disruption to patients attending A&E. There will be alternative ways into the department clearly signposted for patients to follow when necessary during construction.

Following the completion of this initial development, work will then begin to refurbish and add increased capacity, which will provide a boost to clinicians and patient flow through the department.

Consultant Dr David Wilson said: “This is a great opportunity for the Emergency Department to improve the patient journey by creating a more spacious and comfortable environment for them to wait in.”