Airedale Hospital will get a new urgent treatment centre designed to cut hospital waiting times for patients across Keighley, Ilkley, Silsden and the Worth Valley this winter following a new investment of £4.1 million from the government.
The news follows the government’s landmark announcement of a new Airedale Hospital in May as part of a £20 billion investment in the UK’s wider hospital infrastructure, which local MP Robbie Moore called “one of the most significant investments” announced for the Keighley and Ilkley constituency in decades.
The new centre will bring together teams from across local NHS, social care, housing, and voluntary services, helping to ease pressure in urgent and emergency care services this winter and enabling patients to be seen more quickly without being admitted to hospital.
The further £4.1 million of new investment for Airedale is part of the government’s NHS Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan, published in January, which nationally set out plans to provide over 5,000 additional permanent, fully staffed hospital beds, with the NHS on track to deliver this by winter. The plan also includes a commitment for 800 new ambulances, including specialist mental health ambulances to improve ambulance response times this winter.
Statistics show that patients are already seeing improvements as a result of the Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan, with average Category 2 ambulance response times down by 27 minutes on July last year, and down by 60 minutes on the peak of winter pressures seen in December 2022.
Airedale is one of 30 NHS organisations across England to benefit from this extra investment, which is expected to be completed by January to help deal with winter pressures.
Keighley and Ilkley’s MP Robbie Moore said:
“The government's landmark announcement of a new Airedale Hospital back in May was one of the most significant investments announced for our community in decades and was about making sure that patients across Keighley, Ilkley, Silsden and the Worth Valley receive the care they need in a modern hospital which is fit for the future.
In the meantime, it is vitally important that we focus on reducing waiting times.
The government’s announcement of a further £4.1 million of investment for a new urgent treatment centre for Airedale is therefore even more fantastic news for our area, and comes after I constantly raised the current pressures on our local health services and the urgent need to cut waiting times with the government. This new urgent treatment centre will do just that, helping to cut waiting times for residents, which will ultimately help relieve pressures on our wider local health services and make sure that residents can be seen more quickly this winter without having to be admitted to hospital.
I’m proud to see even more investment for Airedale secured and I look forward to working with the Department for Health and Social Care and the fantastic Airedale NHS Foundation Trust to make sure this new centre is delivered on time.”
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive said:
“Winter is always a busy time for the NHS and so it is right that we put robust plans in place as early as possible to boost capacity and help frontline staff to prepare for additional pressure.
“Our winter plans, which build on the progress already made on our urgent and emergency care recovery plan, aim to reduce waiting times for patients and to transform services with an expansion of same day care and virtual wards, helping patients to be cared for in their own home where possible.”
