PLANS have been submitted to transform the accident and emergency unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) has submitted a planning application to Gwynedd Council to redevelop the emergency department.

The revamped department would mean it the unit would be able to handle 70,000 attendances a year, currently it can only deal with 50,000 attendances a year.

The plans include changing the entrance and separating the public entrance and ambulance drop-off point, which the health board describes as ‘cramped and tired’ in their application.

In the application it states: “One of the most significant problems faced by the current A&E department is the co-located entrance for ambulances and visitors.

“For operational reasons the clinical staff wish to retain a single entrance to the department.

“We have therefore revised the plan form and associated external works to create a reasonable degree of separation between pedestrian access and ambulance access.

“This has been achieved by aligning the pedestrian entrance so as to manipulate the approach to the main entrance is so that is accessed from the northwest. The ambulance entrance is then accessed from the north and east.

“The introduction of a new outpatients and administrative block some five years ago gave the hospital a much needed ‘facelift’ and considerably improved the patient experience.

“In comparison the existing A&E department feels cramped and tired.”

A spokesperson for the health board said: “The health board is currently preparing a business case to redevelop the emergency department at Ysbyty Gwynedd.

“The planning application which has been submitted to Gwynedd Council forms part of that process.”

The application will be decided at a Gwynedd Council’s planning committee at a later date.