Struggling hospital to receive $36m funding

The emergency department of North Shore Hospital is to receive a cash injection of $36 million.

The money will go towards providing more beds and a new assessment and diagnostic unit.

The government has acknowledged that the department has some serious deficiencies, but believes that the funding will go some way to improving the facilities and increasing the safety of patients under its care.

The funding is expected to go towards providing:

• An extra 26 emergency department cubicles (currently 16)
• Another 19 beds in the admissions planning unit (currently 37)
• An extra 48 medical inpatient beds (currently 170).

There are also preliminary plans in place to extend the hospital by late 2011. The total cost of the project is expected to reach $48 million.