Health chiefs have been given the go-ahead for a new £7m Accident and Emergency wing at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, it was revealed today.

Work will begin on the project early next year and should relieve the severe pressure on intensive care beds that has crippled the hospital for months. The current emergency wards will also be upgraded.

Today the Government announced a £1m grant towards the cost of the development. The remaining £6m will come from the NHS regional office and a variety of charities, which all pledged to support the scheme if it received Government approval.

John MacDonald, chairman of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We have got this money from the modernisation fund. We already have earmarked capital of over £2.2m and the rest of the money was always going to be raised through an appeal."

He added: "We are delighted with the success of this bid. It should enable a start on this much-needed scheme early in the Millennium. We already have over £2m allocated from the regional office, so this extra money is a great boost." David Skinner, chairman of the hospital's critical care service, said the new building and refurbishment would allow services to be provided in a much more suitable environment.

Oxford's emergency wards have been on red alert for months. At one stage last year, patients were forced to wait for hours on trolleys due to the chronic shortage of staff and beds.

At one stage last year, patients were forced to wait for hours on trolleys due to the lack of staff and beds. Recently, the hospital launched a recruitment drive that included employing nurses from Australia.

A Department of Health spokesman said the £7m would pay for the 'upgrading of A & E and intensive care departments at the John Radcliffe to relieve the very severe pressure on intensive care and assessment beds'.

It would also pay for an expanded treatment area to see more patients. Debbie Pearman, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Any money for the John Radcliffe would be welcome because we really are struggling.

"If they are going to improve Accident and Emergency then all the better for the hospitals, the patients and the people that work there."

The John Radcliffe was recently boosted when a two-year plan to merge Oxford hospital services with Banbury's Horton Hospital was agreed.

The new Clinical Services Strategy will enable the Horton to retain services despite its small size. It should also ease recruitment problems across all hospitals and help patients by providing 'one service on two sites'.

Story date: Tuesday 16 February

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