THE £3.3million outpatients department at Winchester's Royal Hampshire County Hospital has officially opened.

Although the service opened its doors to patients in January, the official opening ceremony has now taken place.

The Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Frank Pearson, did the honours, with Winchester and Chandler's Ford MP, Steve Brine, also in attendance.

The new facility will serve 100,000 patients a year and replaces the old huts facing Romsey Road.

Outpatients sister, Diann Adam, has worked at RHCH for 15 years and said the new site is good news for patients and staff alike.

“This is the biggest change we have seen since I've been working here. This is what people think a hospital should look like: it's calm, clean and warm.”

“The old building was not fit for purpose. The staff were looking forward to working here and their old working environment was not particularly good,” she said.

Mr Brine also heaped praise on the facility.

“This is how the hospital should be and will be. This is a great bit of investment and gives patients reassurance that this hospital is going forward.”

Cllr Pearson, who arrived in the RHCH's new buggy, which helps patients make their way from the hospital's multi‐storey car park through the site, said: “I'm delighted that the finance has been made available for this. We have been waiting for many a long year.”

The new department, situated in the Burrell Wing, is purpose built and features electronic self-check-in terminals, as well as waiting areas designed especially for children.

The project was funded by Hampshire Hospitals' NHS Foundation Trust, which took over the RHCH last January.