A WINTER action plan is being drawn up for Worcestershire Royal Hospital - including 54 extra beds for people coming straight off ambulances.

In a bid to get prepared for the months ahead, bosses at the county's acute trust are drawing up tentative plans to beef up provision.

The plans, which are expected to go 'live' by December, include creating "ambulatory emergency care" at both the royal and Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

The care units are designed to treat people as soon as they come off ambulances at both sites, with medicine staff on hand to administer help immediately.

It will lead to 54 stations being set up at the royal and and 24 at the Alex, meaning people can be treated on an outpatient basis without the need for formal admittance.

The move is an attempt to reduce some of the scenes of recent winters where huge pressure on A&E led to patients being stuck on trolleys in corridors.

Chris Tidman, the Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust board's interim chief executive, said: "As we go into the winter it's absolutely imperative that we change our processes.

"We will need to adapt to cope with what will inevitably be a very difficult challenge."

Rab McEwan, the interim chief operating officer said: "It automatically increases our capacity and manages patients in an ambulatory way so they can help patients to avoid admission to the hospital.

"The whole issue for me is that we need to make sure we've got staff for the additional beds, so we are recruiting at the moment.

"I can see us in a position where we're able to open up the extra capacity from the start of December which is when the pressure really comes."

A new report on the changes also reveals how the trust intends to create a 'discharge lounge' at the sites to help support patients who are showing signs of being ready to leave.

The idea is that by moving them on quicker it should free up more beds.