The Trust which runs Felixstowe hospital has revealed how it will use millions of pounds of Government money for a possible second wave of coronavirus.

Health minister Matt Hancock announced trusts across England would receive a share of £300 million, designed to help hospitals maintain essential services and reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection during the coming months, especially over the winter.

The East Suffolk and North Essex Trust (ESNEFT), which runs Ipswich and Colchester hospitals as well as Felixtowe's, will get £3,051,000.

In Ipswich, £200,000 will be used to upgrade the children's Emergency Department (ED) to increase capacity and improve waiting areas.

An additional £1.4m will be spent creating an Acute Medical Same Day Emergency Care (AMSDEC) unit, where patients with problems such as chest infections or palpitations can be assessed and treated quickly and efficiently, and without the need for a hospital stay.

A similar unit opened in Colchester last October and saw around 500 patients every month during the winter, who stayed on the unit for an average of four to six hours.

In addition, £1.4 million will be spent creating offices for clinicians at Colchester to free up space in both the adult and children's emergency departments.

Nick Hulme, chief executive of the trust, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded this money, which will help us continue to provide safe and accessible services while we manage Covid-19 and during the traditionally busy winter period.

"The money will be spent expanding our waiting areas to help us maintain social distancing during the peak of winter activity as well as increasing the capacity of our emergency departments.

"This is great news as it means that people coming into hospital for emergency or urgent treatment can feel confident we are taking the extra steps necessary to keep them, their families and our staff safe."

The trust has also reminded patients to only go to the emergency departments for life-threatening emergencies, such as breathing difficulties or chest pains. Those with less serious conditions, such as suspected fractures and minor burns, should visit an urgent treatment centre, or contact 111.