A brand new operating theatre and two minor operations rooms are planned for Newark Hospital following a £5.6m grant. Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust has secured the money from NHS England and work will begin in 2023.
The funding will be used to build an extra theatre to treat orthopaedic cases, including treatment for problems with bones, degenerative diseases and sports injuries, as well as a recovery area and two minor operations suites. More space in the outpatient treatment area will also be created, allowing the hospital to perform around 2,634 more procedures every year.
The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, a partnership of health and care organisations in the county, says the money will be used to “expand elective day-case activity at the Newark Hospital site through the construction of a modular theatre and recovery area”. The board added: “Expanding elective capacity will support delivery of significant reductions in elective backlogs in specialities such as Elective Orthopaedics, Urology and Ophthalmology.
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“This expansion of capacity will help to reduce waiting times, it may improve the experience for our patients and help manage future demand. Developing the Newark Hospital site provides additional services locally for Newark residents and helps to address health inequalities for these patients.
“In addition, this proposal secures additional elective capacity away from the main hospital site which avoids the potential impact of cancellation due to urgent care demand.
“This means that other patients facing long waiting times may also be offered care at Newark.” It comes after accident and emergency services (A&E) were removed from the hospital in 2011, prompting local concern at the time.
Orthopaedics makes up 41 percent of patients waiting for an operation at Sherwood Forest Hospitals and 48 percent of orthopaedic patients are waiting over 40 weeks for their procedure, according to documents. The theatre capacity would allow for staff to operate an extra 10 hours of care per day, six days per week to clear backlogs.
More staff roles will be added, with documents saying: “The addition of a modular theatre and upgrading of the minor operations unit will provide new capacity on the Newark Hospital site which will require additional staff. The trust has developed a recruitment plan to support current staffing vacancies as well as additional staffing requirements for this additional activity.”
Plans are recommended for approval at a Nottinghamshire County Council Health Scrutiny meeting on January 10.
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