The final phase of refurbishment work at the John Radcliffe Hospital's Emergency Department is under way.

Work on the 'majors' area at the hospital, run by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, started on Monday and is due to be complete by December.

Patients who are seriously ill but not in a life-threatening condition are treated in the area.

The renovation work will create five new assessment bays and three new assessment rooms, provide an upgraded staff base and create additional storage areas.

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The final phase of the project has been boosted by a recent investment of £950,000, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, which supplements the recently completed Emergency Department expansion, a new CT scanner, and renovation of the Children's Emergency Department.

Sachin Mandalia, clinical lead for the Emergency Department, said the final phase of work would 'significantly improve' patients' experience in the majors area, adding the new extension, which opened last month, is now fully operational and the trust was already seeing 'significant benefits' for patients and staff.