The entrance to A&E at the Cumberland Infirmary is moving temporarily as building work continues on our new Urgent Treatment Centre.

From Monday, April 28, all patients needing to access A&E will need to come through the main front doors of the hospital and not the current A&E entrance.

Rectangular, red floor stickers will mark a pathway to the new A&E entrance featuring both words and arrows. Volunteers will also be around to direct patients to A&E through the main hospital atrium.

Visitors should walk through the main hospital doors through the atrium and up towards the Costa coffee shop. Turn left here and pass the lifts and straight ahead into A&E.

Pop-up banners will also be in place to guide you but these will be minimal to avoid cluttering. These will be in place near the volunteers desk and also near the lifts highlighting the need to turn left.

The closure will be in place until late 2025.

Medical Director Dr Helen Skinner said: “The change to the A&E entrance is necessary so building work can continue on the UTC.

“From April 28, patients needing emergency treatment will have to go through our main atrium doors to access A&E. Signs, arrows and volunteers will be in place to direct people.

“We are constantly striving to make things better for our patients and, once open, the new UTC facility will be a real boost to emergency care in north Cumbria.”

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.