Health Secretary Alan Milburn is due to visit Bradford tomorrow to officially open the city's new accident and emergency department.

Staff at Bradford Royal Infirmary will be welcoming the minister to the £5.5million purpose-built unit, which opened to patients last September.

One of the busiest departments in the UK, the A&E unit cares for more than 100,000 patients a year. Completed a year earlier than planned, the new development is almost five times the size of the former cramped accommodation, which dated from the 1930s and was designed to treat less than a third of the current workload.

Mr David Jackson, chief executive of Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "This is a new unit of which our local community, and the NHS as a whole, can be proud. The excellent facilities now match the skills and expertise of our staff, and put Bradford at the forefront of A&E services nationally.

"We are delighted that the Secretary of State for Health will be able to see these improvements first-hand when he tours the new unit."

A&E consultant and head of the service, Tony Shenton, added: "Already the benefits of the new department are evident.

"The people of Bradford now have one of the best A&E departments in the country with the space, design and technology to care for the hundreds of people who use the service every day of the week, every week of the year."

Mr Milburn was also due to visit the Radcliffe Lane Day Centre in Pudsey.