Walking wounded hospital patients will be diverted to a new £1.2 million one-stop treatment centre to help cut waiting times.

The Department of Health yesterday announced Brighton will be given one of 11 proposed walk-in health centres.

The centre will be based at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

The aim will be to divert patients with minor problems from the main accident and emergency department, with a separate set of staff to treat them.

About 68,000 patients are treated at the Royal Sussex A&E department every year.

At the moment, about 80 per cent of patients are treated, transferred, admitted or discharged within four hours, below the Government target of 90 per cent.

Health minister John Hutton announced the funding for the Royal Sussex as part of a £10 million investment in NHS walk-in centres.

Planning permission to build an extension next to the A&E unit will be needed from Brighton and Hove City Council.

Organisers hope to have the centre open by next winter at the earliest.

Patients' groups have welcomed the plans but warned it would need continued investment in the right amount of staff to run it.

Peter Elliott, from the Patients' Action Group in Sussex, said: "It sounds good in theory but unless there are enough doctors and nurses to run the centre then things will just carry on as they are.

"Over-worked staff will continue to struggle to cope with emergencies while people with minor injuries wait a long time for treatment."

Gary Needle, chief executive of Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust, said: "This is great news.

"Our A&E department is among the busiest in the region and this will help us treat more people, more quickly."

Dr Charles Turton, medical director at the Royal Sussex, said: "This announcement is very welcome.

"The development of an emergency care walk-in centre is a significant plank in our plans to develop quicker and more responsive health services for local people."

The centre may also ease some pressures on GPs as patients with minor injuries may go to the walk-in centre rather than make doctor's appointments for treatment.

However, the main aim of the unit is to ease the pressure on A&E services.