A multi-million-pound refurbishment at the Royal Bolton Hospital is complete with outpatients moving back into the newly designed block.

The J block at the Royal Bolton Hospital was undergoing work to create the newly opened community diagnostic centre and a new general outpatient department.

Outpatients were moved to the N block during this time, but now are being moved back.

Rae Wheatcroft, Chief Operating Officer at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Over the past twelve months we have carried out a major refurbishment of J Block at Royal Bolton Hospital to create a state-of-the-art Community Diagnostic Centre and a purpose-built General Outpatient department, all under one roof.

“To enable this exciting work to take place we temporarily relocated our outpatients  department from J Block to N Block, and now the multi-million project is complete we’re really pleased to be able to move general outpatients back to J block on the first floor.

The Bolton News: Staff from Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and construction partners came together to celebrate the

“We’re in a really unique position to be able to co-locate our community diagnostic centre and general outpatients department in one space, which will make it as easy as possible for our patients to access the care they need.

“Investing in our buildings and estates is an investment in the health and wellbeing of our communities by providing modern healthcare facilities that will be at the heart of what we do for years to come.”

To celebrate the refurbishment, staff and construction partners came together in a ribbon-cutting event.

Patients will now benefit from quicker and easier access to vital tests and scans like MRIs and X-rays to help diagnose and treat people sooner.

READ MORE: Royal Bolton Hospital services to be moved part of refurbishment

READ MORE: Royal Bolton Hospital to open new diagnostics centre

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Ryan Calderbank, Divisional Director of Operations at the Trust, said previously: “Improving access to important scans like X-rays and MRIs will help us to diagnose conditions and make sure patients get the treatment and care they need as early as possible.

“With increasing demand for our diagnostic services this dedicated centre will allow us to maximise our capacity to reduce waiting times and deliver the best possible care for our communities.

“I would like to thank the project teams and clinical and corporate staff for all their efforts and helping us to create a diagnostic centre that Bolton can be really proud of.”

Staff will also be working with the latest MRI, CT, and X-ray technology after new scanners were delivered and installed.