Just after midnight on 22 May 2025, HRI A&E marked one year since opening the new department. Over the last year, almost 90,000 patients have come through the door, including 15,000 children who have been seen in the dedicated new children’s area. 13,500 people have been treated for minor injuries, and over 21,000 ambulances have dropped patients off for urgent and emergency treatment.

Take a look at just how much the team have achieved in this short video: HRI A&E one year on

To celebrate, the team held a bake off last Thursday on their first birthday. The difficult task of judging the entries fell to Head Nurse for Medicine, Tom Ladlow, and A&E Consultant, Huw Masson. After sampling each of the desserts, the winners were announced:

• First place - Lead Nurse, Niki Finey 
• Second place - Senior Sister, Emmie Haxby 
• Third place - Emergency Nurse Practitioner, Grace Taylor

Tom said: "They were all scrumptious! All of them were deserving of a handshake."

Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Clinical Lead for the new A&E project, Dr Mark Davies, said: “It is fantastic to see how far we have come over the year. It’s a facility we can all be proud of, and it’s reflected in the wonderful feedback from our patients around how the environment has improved people’s experience of using A&E.

“The number of people we serve in greater Huddersfield is around 245,000, so it really puts into perspective the amount we do in our department."

Tom added: “One thing I consistently hear from our patients is just how reassuring and compassionate all our team are. We have 100 different staff roles who all play a part in running our A&E - from doctors, nurses, physiotherapy, administration and estates staff. They are a wonderful team who have really made our new department a calm and friendly place for our patients to be cared for in what we know can be a stressful time.”

It’s not just patients and colleagues who are feeling the benefits, the planet is too. Over 150kg of CO2 has been saved over the year as the A&E is completely powered by renewable energy. That is about the same as driving more than 350,000 miles in a truck.

Mark adds: “The benefits of our new A&E have been far reaching. We’re seeing how it’s making a difference to our colleagues who work in the department, especially around wellbeing. We’ve also seen how the build itself has realised over £20 million of benefits to the local economy through, among other elements, creating 180 local employment opportunities and more than 5,000 hours of apprenticeship training.”

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this important milestone!