Changes to the way vehicles access the Emergency Department (ED) at the Cumberland Infirmary will come into force next week as building work continues on a new Urgent Treatment Centre.

From Monday, April 7, cars and ambulances will not be able to drive the whole way round the back of our site from Infirmary Street, off Newtown Road.

A three-week closure will be in place from the staff car park entrance (near the helipad) to the Emergency Department entrance.

Ambulances will be required to access the Emergency Department from the main drive off Newtown Road and will have access to the emergency department bay at all times.

Pedestrians will still be able to access the department as normal and disabled patients will still be able to be dropped off. 

The difference coming into force from Monday is that staff, patients and visitors will not be able to drive the whole way round the back of our site.

If patients are coming to the hospital for any other reason and need to access the dedicated disabled parking, they will need to enter the site via Infirmary Street.

Later in the month, from Monday, April 28, all members of the public needing to access the Emergency Department will need to come through the main front doors of the hospital and not the current emergency department entrance.  Patients arriving via ambulance will still be able to access the department through the existing ambulance bay under the ambulance canopy.

The new route will be signposted and details on this new route will be released in due course.

Work began on the new £12m UTC in February aimed at reducing pressure on the Accident and Emergency Department.

The new facility will provide 12 consultation rooms, ancillary staff areas, clinical storage space and patient waiting areas.

The single storey facility comprises examination rooms along with staff/patient ancillary space, waiting area and roof top plant room and will be built by MTX Contracts Ltd using modern methods of construction to deliver the project faster, greener, safer and more cost effectively that conventional building methods.

The current Emergency Department was built with capacity for 30,000 attendances each year. Last year, it had 78,300 attendances - more than two and half times its original capacity.

Cumbria Health, which provides out of hours GP services, will also be located in the UTC.