Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport will be expanding its urgent care centre as part of a multi-million modernisation plan to tackle 'corridor care.'

The expansion of the unit will mean that patients will receive good quality care in the right place, and help reduce the pressure on the A&E department.

Urgent care centres treat minor illnesses and injuries such as sprains, cuts and infections with walk-in appointments available.

Stepping Hill Hospital has yet to reveal when the expansion is set to take place.

Wes Streeting, Health and Social Care Secretary, said: "For too long, the normalisation of corridor care has been baked into our NHS - it's unacceptable, undignified.

"We are cutting waiting times and moving away from unacceptable corridor care, building an NHS that treats patients with dignity.

The government confirmed 40 locations across England with new or expanded urgent care and same-day emergency care centres, reducing waiting times in A&E.

Alongside Stepping Hill Hospital, other expanded centres include Dorset County Hospital, Northern General Hospital, and Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

The new centres will be located across the Midlands, South West and South East, including Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and Salisbury District Hospital.

It was also announced that teams of experts will be introduced in hospitals with high rates of 'corridor care' to provide specialist advice and support to hospitals.

The Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) team will support leaders in the hospitals to improve discharge and flow and understand their own data to predict the rise in demand.

A new, measurable definition of 'corridor care' has also been introduced, helping hospitals collect data which will be published in May.

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