Gloucestershire’s main hospital sites will receive nearly £5million for “urgent” repairs.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Tuesday 13 health trusts – including Gloucestershire hospitals – will receive £184million to go towards the upgrades to protect vital frontline patient care.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the £4.95million will be used for the replacement of emergency and medical equipment in its two main county hospitals: Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General.

The trust is the only one in the South West region which will receive the cash injection.

Last year it was reported the trust needed more than £50million worth of repairs need to be carried out at Gloucestershire’s main hospitals in order to bring their facilities up to scratch, according to health figures.

Deborah Lee, chief executive of the trust, said: “We have been successful in our application for a capital financing loan of £4.95m to support our £26.5m capital programme for 2019/20.

“This funding will be used for the replacement of emergency and essential medical equipment, will contribute to the essential maintenance of our hospitals in Cheltenham and Gloucester and to fund health and safety schemes in this financial year.”

The loans will ensure that trusts are able to upgrade critical infrastructure and maintenance on buildings, as well as provide the right equipment for staff to carry out their work and provide better patient outcomes.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “These loans will make sure hospitals continue to deliver vital services to patients in buildings that are safe and have the right equipment to deliver world-class care.

“Since July, we have injected £4.8 billion capital funding into the NHS – helping refurbish hospital wards, replace old medical equipment and maintain NHS buildings.”