The public have been given their first look at plan for a multi-million pound A&E unit at Airedale Hospital which will almost double it in size.

First announced in May, Bradford Council has now received a planning application for the demolition of the Steeton hospital’s four decade old A&E unit and the building of a state-of-the-art facility, with room to expand further if needed.

The extensive plans went out to public comment yesterday, the same day the hospital opened its new maternity unit.

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust says the existing facilities are cramped and this has lead to increased patient waiting times. In April the hospital was forced to apologise after the number of patients waiting at A&E for more than four hours rose 265 per cent from the previous year.

The new building, estimated to cost between £4 million and £6 million, will include an improved main entrance and reception area, better clinical and staff areas, more private consultation rooms, clearer routes round the unit to “reduce stress and anxiety” and a new ambulance drop-off.

During construction, the emergency department will move to the neighbouring endoscopy unit, soon to be vacated when that department moves to a new £2.4 million unit.

The trust’s application says: “Improving the experience of patients and their families is at the heart of Airedale Hospital’s ethos, as highlighted by this proposal to transform the A&E environment to make it more welcoming and enhance patient privacy and dignity.

“The existing space for A&E within Airedale Hospital is unsuitable, with limited space for provision of an adequate number of clinical areas, which compromises many elements of care and patient experience, particularly privacy, safety and infection control.

“The floor area of the department will be almost double the current area and the entire layout of the department will support modern working practices.”

There will be a new children’s waiting area, separate from the adults’, and a private area where patients arriving by ambulance can wait to be seen.

The present building was designed to deal with up to 20,000 patients a year, but this number is currently closer to 50,000. The trust says the new building will be designed to deal with this number, but also with a view for two future extensions, adding: “To avoid some of the issues with the existing building the new design can easily be extended if future demand increases.”

The building will cover the hospital’s helipad and the trust says a replacement site will need to be found.

The plans are available to view at bradford.gov.uk.