Plans have been submitted to extend North Tyneside General Hospital's endoscopy department to help deal with Covid-19 backlogs.
The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has submitted plans to extend the department to deal with additional appointments and backlogs following the pandemic. The plans come as the Trust receives funding from the Government's NHS Recovery Fund and can now invest in new equipment.
According to documents submitted by the Trust to North Tyneside Council, the proposed extension at Rake Lane would take up 90 square metres.
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Endoscopies are medical procedures that involve the insertion of long, thin tubes with small cameras into the body through natural openings.
These include, among others, colonoscopies to check the health of the bowels or gastroscopies, where a camera is inserted down the throat to check the oesophagus, stomach and part of the small intestine.
Olly Scargill, a medical student and Conservative Collingwood councillor said: "This is fantastic news and it's great to see the Government's plan to cut NHS waiting lists is delivering here in our area.
"I've spent a lot of my training at Rake Lane - it's a brilliant hospital that employs so many local residents. I'm hopeful this announcement means they can deliver a better, faster service for everyone."
Figures from the British Medical Association (BMA) reveal that as of March 2023, 7.3 million people across England are waiting for some form of medical treatment. A total of 3.3 million of those have been waiting over 18 weeks.
The median waiting time for NHS treatment sits at 14.1 weeks, double pre-Covid levels of 6.9 weeks in March 2019.
These backlogs, according to the BMA, are a result of Covid disruption. The BMA has also warned about the "hidden backlogs" which consist of patients who require care but have not yet presented or had referrals cancelled due to Covid-19.
In March 2023, in another move to expand services at North Tyneside General, councillors in North Tyneside also unanimously called for an A&E service to be returned to Rake Lane.
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