Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary to build new urgent treatment centre to cut strain on A&E

Plans to build a new urgent treatment centre (UTC) next to the A&E at the Royal Victoria Infirmary were approved by Newcastle City Council’s planning committee on Friday morning.

It is hoped that the site will take the pressure off the emergency department by providing an alternative space within the hospital where patients presenting with urgent, but not life-threatening, health conditions can be cared for.

The centre will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is expected to open before the end of 2025 – with preliminary works to prepare the area for construction having already started.

The move to set up a new UTC within the RVI site comes after the closure of the walk-in centre on Westgate Road.

Two remaining urgent treatment centres at Ponteland Road in Cowgate and Molineux Street in Byker will continue to open seven days a week as normal, the Newcastle Hospitals NHS trust confirmed.

Rob Harrison, acting chief executive of the Newcastle Hospitals, said: “We’re delighted to get the go-ahead from Newcastle City Council for our new urgent treatment centre. As a purpose-built addition to our RVI site, the centre will provide a dedicated and modern facility for people who need help with an urgent health need which cannot wait or be treated at home.

“Patients will be able to see the right person to meet their needs, through the centre’s team of doctors, nurses, therapists and other healthcare staff.”

The trust said that access to A&E would not be disrupted while the new centre is being built, with Robertson Construction having been appointed for the project, and that RVI minor injuries unit will continue to operate as normal until its services transfer over to the UTC once it opens.

Members of the planning committee were told on Friday that no extra car parking is being provided as part of the development and that patients accessing the UTC would need to use existing spaces in and around the RVI site.

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Lib Dem councillor Doreen Huddart raised concerns about Richardson Road and Queen Victoria Road already suffering from traffic congestion.

However, civic centre transport officials said that they believed the opening of the UTC would not have an unacceptable impact on the roads around the city centre hospital, believing that demand for it could be managed within the existing parking provision at the RVI.

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