WITH Thurrock residents still digesting the implications of Mid and South Essex Hospitals Trust's alert that Orsett Hosital's buildings are unsafe and its future uncertain, the Trust has announced it is to spend £3 million on the roof at Basildon Hospital A&E.

And a further £3 million will be spent on upgrading services there.

The decline in buildings infrastructure at Orsett Hospital has long been a concern for Thurrock residents, who have see the expected cost of repairs to just bring it up to basic safety standards ruse to an estimated £13 million, with little commitment from the Trust to carry out repairs.

Last week the region's integrated care board announced it was taking Orsett's minor injuries unit to Grays.

Residents and councillors have long felt Thurrock is treated as second class in the Trust and NHS allocation of resources and the latest news is hardly going to temper that view.

Half of the money to be invested at Basildon will be used to more than double the size of the hospital's rapid assessment, triage and treatment area, with eight larger assessment bays replacing the three current ones.

The Trust says it will help the department see and treat patients quicker.

The other £3m will fund the replacement of the department's 20-year-old roof.

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Work on the extension is expected to begin in September and be completed by spring next year, the trust said.

Maimuna Mushabe, the hospital's interim chief executive, said: "Increasing our ambulance handover and assessment capacity at Basildon will help cut waiting times, improve patient flow through the emergency department and ensure people receive care more quickly."

It follows the success of a similar scheme at Southend Hospital recently.

"We have already seen the benefits of bigger assessment facilities at Southend Hospital," said Ms Mushabe.

Also see https://thurrock.nub.news/news/local-news/is-today-doomsday-for-orsett-hospital-rumours-that-icb-is-to-close-it-down-abound-announcement-is-expected-304874