MEMBERS of public have three weeks left to comment on plans to expand the A&E at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Oxford City Council is asking for views on the planning application submitted by hospital managers.

The two-storey extension would feature eight new A&E treatment bays, a paediatric resuscitation room, CT scanner, nurse base and improved bereavement rooms.

Have your say now at city council planning portal.

Construction could start as early as this autumn if permission is granted.

An earlier report said the consultation would close today, but the date has now been set as September 15.

Dr Larry Fitton, clinical lead for the emergency department, previously told this paper the expansion was 'vital' to ease pressure on the hospital cause by the growing local population.

Health chiefs apologised in April after the number of patients forced to wait in A&E departments for 12 hours or more rose ‘significantly’ last winter.

January saw Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the John Radcliffe, record its highest level of 12-hour breaches for ‘many years’, according to the trust’s performance report.

A total of 53 patients endured A&E waits of 12 hours or more.

See the full application on the planning portal at oxford.gov.uk using reference number 18/01851/FUL