HOSPITALS in Hampshire are set to be upgraded following a multi-million pound cash boost.

A total of £10.5m is to be invested to improve A&E and emergency care across the county.

It comes as University Hospital Southampton (UHS) NHS Foundation Trust will receive £9m from central government while an extra £1.5m will go to Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in Winchester, Basingstoke and Andover.

Details of how the money will be spent are yet to be revealed, but the government said the new funding could be used to expand waiting areas and increase the number of treatment cubicles in a bid to  boost A&E capacity.

Hospitals could also decide to use the grant to increase the provision of same day emergency care and improve patient flow in the hospital to help the NHS respond to winter pressures and the risk from further outbreaks of coronavirus.

Projects will be completed by the start of next year to ensure hospitals benefit from the upgrades during the peak of winter.

The news was announced by the Prime Minister earlier this week as part of a £300m grant .

Paula Head, chief executive officer at UHS, said: "We have been successful in securing, what appears to be, the highest grant nationally in this round of Government spending. This vital money will go a good way towards covering the capital costs needed to enable us to physically expand and improve our Emergency Department to help us meet future need and to deal with the challenges of extraordinary circumstances we are experiencing with COVID. Welook forward to opening the doors to this expansion in early 2021.”

The news has been welcomed by Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith and Eastleigh MP Paul Holmes.

"This funding to upgrade A&E will ensure that we are in the best possible position to meet the challenges that the winter months may bring,”Mr Smith said.

Mr Holmes added: "While we are making progress with this disease, it's right that we plan for the winter and future pressures."

But Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead said: “I welcome the extra funding. However this money is from a national pot of funding which I don't think is adequate to meet the scale of the crisis we could face in the autumn.”

Health Minister Edward Argar said: “This funding is part of our record investment in NHS infrastructure to ensure our health services continue to meet the needs of the present and to be fit for future demands placed upon it."

The government said this funding forms part of an extra £1.5 billion capital funding announced by the Prime Minister.

Last month, the PM confirmed an additional £3 billion of funding to the NHS in England to get ready for winter.

He said: “These upgrades will help our fantastic NHS prepare for the winter months, helping them to deliver essential services and reduce the risk of coronavirus infections."

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been approached for comment but it was unable to provide one before the paper went to press.