A hospital trust will receive more than £6million to help its A&E units cope with heightened demand this winter.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced yesterday that North West London Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes Northwick Park, will receive £6.4million to deal with heavy caseload.

The steps were announced by ministers to help deal with the growing pressures on A&E departments, with more than £500million being set aside by the Government for the next two years.

The trust's director of operations Tina Benson said: “I am delighted our local health economy has provisionally been earmarked to receive £6.4m from the Department of Health, to help our emergency departments run smoothly this winter."

For 2012/2013 93.8 per cent of patients were seen, treated and discharged from its emergency department within four hours, against the national target of 95 per cent for the year.

She said: “We have already been working to improve this target and we recently released a bulletin detailing how we plan to transform emergency care across Northwick Park and Central Middlesex Hospitals.”

The trust says several initiatives are currently underway to prepare its emergency departments for winter which include creating additional bed spaces on the wards and expanding its surgical assessment unit.

The trust will also be looking at a direct admission pathway, where patients who need assessments for certain conditions can avoid the emergency department and be seen directly by a consultant.

Ms Benson added: “This money will help ensure the success of these initiatives and allow us to enhance the number of services that are available 24/7, which will improve the flow of patients through our emergency department.”

The announcement has been welcomed by MP for Harrow East Bob Blackman, who said: “This extra funding will come as a welcome relief for the hard working NHS staff working to serve people in our area.

“The extra money will be a very welcome boost this winter when A&E departments come under most pressure.

“I am pleased that we are seeing such positive outcomes from the Government’s decision to increase NHS spending, despite opposition from the Labour Party.”