The government has announced almost £140 million of investment in 14 urgent and emergency care schemes across England as the NHS prepares for winter pressures.
The Department of Health and Social Care said on Sunday 18 October 2026 that the funding will support new urgent treatment and same-day emergency care facilities, additional ambulances, improvements to emergency departments and other measures designed to increase capacity.
Where will the funding go?
The largest named allocation is £42.1 million for a transformation of the accident and emergency department at Queen’s Hospital in Romford. Ministers say the department was designed for around 325 patients a day but now regularly treats more than twice that number.
Other announced schemes include £12.9 million for a same-day emergency care facility at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, £10 million for a new urgent treatment centre at James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston, and £6.35 million for 40 additional double-crewed ambulances for East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Basildon Hospital is allocated £6 million over two years for emergency department refurbishment, including expansion of its rapid assessment, triage and treatment area from three bays to eight. Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge is allocated £7.7 million over four years for digital coordination systems.
Health Secretary warns of difficult winter
Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper said the NHS faced a particularly challenging winter after a busy summer and that investment in urgent care capacity was intended to help patients receive appropriate treatment.
NHS England also emphasised the role of urgent treatment centres, same-day care and winter vaccination programmes in managing pressure on emergency departments.
Previously announced sites due to open
The government separately said that 25 new or expanded urgent care sites announced in April are expected to be available during the winter period. Its published schedule includes facilities already open and others with expected opening dates in November and December 2026 or January 2027.
These 25 sites should not be confused with the 14 schemes covered by the newly announced funding.
Funding covers projects over different timescales
The £140 million announcement concerns capital investment in facilities and equipment, not a single injection of day-to-day NHS operating funds. Some projects have funding profiles extending over two, three or four years. It would therefore be misleading to suggest that all the money will be spent before this winter.
The government says the investment forms part of a wider programme of almost £2 billion in urgent care capital projects running to 2030.
Questions over staffing and capacity
The Royal College of Nursing welcomed the additional investment in the short term but warned that staffing pressures remained a serious concern. The union argued that additional facilities must be supported by a sufficiently resourced nursing workforce.
The impact of the projects on waiting times and overcrowding will depend on their delivery and operation; the funding announcement alone does not establish that those outcomes have already been achieved.