More than 50 new surgical hubs will open across England to help reduce Covid backlogs, Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said.
The new hubs will provide at least 100 more operating theatres and 1,000 more beds, with the target of delivering almost two million extra routine operations over the next three years, he said. The beds will be allocated for planned operations, which the Government hopes will reduce the risk of short-notice cancellations.
The new hubs are backed by £1.5 billion allocation funding and have been introduced to help cut waiting lists which were made worse by the pandemic. Mr Barclay said: “In order to bust the Covid backlogs and keep pace with future demands, we can’t simply have business as usual.
