A new ward to care for frail and elderly patients waiting to leave hospital is due to be opened at the beginning of December.

The refurbished Wheal Vor ward at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske will open in the newly designated Tremenel Unit on Friday.

It will provide 28 beds to support a new model for care for frail and elderly patients. It will also operate as a training centre for new healthcare assistants.

It has been created to help alleviate the "front door" pressures at RCHT expected over the winter by moving "medically optimised" frail patients into one dedicated ward where they can have care plans created for them and where "reablement" can start.

The ward is on the first floor of the Tremenel Unit (previously called the Progressive Recovery Unit).

The Tremenel Unit is designed to provide additional temporary relocation space for wards and services displaced during the long-term reconfiguration of the Treliske hospital site.

A number of services are having to move to make way for the new Women and Children’s Hospital, one of the Government’s so called "40 New Hospitals" being built under the national New Hospitals Programme.

Located between the Princess Alexandra Wing and the Tower Block, access to the Tremenel Unit will be via the Tower Block Main Entrance, and then through a new link corridor connected to the Eye Unit Reception area.

A hospital spokesperson said: "By bringing patients together near the end of their acute hospital stay, the clinical team can provide a service more dedicated to a safe and effective discharge.

"The additional beds will help support the management of operational pressure across the site and should help vacate beds to allow more elective work to be undertaken."

The ground floor of the Tremenel Unit will also provide a temporary home for Lowen Ward (the 18-bed Oncology Unit) in advance of its move to the new MRI and Oncology building next to Trelawny Wing.

Lowen Ward, currently located on the Link Corridor, is due for demolition during 2022 to make way for the Women and Children’s Hospital.

The ground floor of the unit is due to open in March 2022, and part of the ground floor is being designed to house the day case Patient Blood Management service.