Willmott Dixon has started work on a £140m emergency care facility at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, the first Wave 1 scheme in the government’s New Hospital Programme to begin main construction.

The four-storey Emergency Care Building will transform urgent and emergency care provision for the South- west peninsula, creating purpose-built spaces to replace the hospital's current 50-year-old emergency department.

The project represents a significant milestone for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, which operates one of the busiest emergency departments in the South-west and serves as the region's major trauma centre. Due to open in 2028/29, the new building will provide nearly twice the capacity of the existing facility.

Rob Woolcock, director at Willmott Dixon, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be delivering this important new facility in partnership with University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust. This represents not just the beginning of a building, but the next step in enhancing the care and wellbeing of thousands of patients every year.

“We understand how crucial this development is. The current emergency department is one of the busiest in the South West, and this new building will provide a modern, purpose-built environment designed to support both patients and staff -- giving clinicians the space, technology, and flexibility they need to deliver outstanding care.”

The development will feature an expanded emergency department on the ground floor, with the existing ED space being reconfigured to serve as a dedicated paediatric ED following completion. The first floor will house a Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit, providing urgent hospital treatment with follow-up managed in the community.

Advanced diagnostic and surgical facilities will occupy the upper floors, including four state-of-the-art interventional radiology theatres on the second floor and five new surgical theatres for both emergency and planned procedures on the third floor. The building will feature modern imaging technologies, patient recovery areas, and improved staff workspaces throughout.

Stuart Windsor, programme director for Our Future Hospital, said: “It has been a long journey to get to today, but we will now finally see the new Emergency Care Building start to rise from the ground. This important building will provide the people of Plymouth and the wider Devon and Cornwall peninsula a facility that they can be proud of and will finally give our clinicians the space to care.”

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by key stakeholders including Fred Thomas MP for Plymouth Moor View, hospital staff and long-serving emergency department volunteers who participated in a symbolic turf-cutting with ceremonial spades.

The contract adds to Willmott Dixon's growing portfolio of transformational healthcare projects. The company recently completed the £30m regeneration of Barnes Hospital in London, creating modern NHS mental health facilities and a Special Educational Needs school. This followed the company's involvement in the £150m redevelopment of Springfield University Hospital in Wandsworth.