The Operating Theatre Journal - Flipbook - Page 18
Investment in Kendal hospital hits £22.3million with
addition of new £13.7million state-of-the-art Surgical Hub
Patients are set to bene昀椀t from a new
£13.7 million Surgical Hub currently under
construction at Westmorland General Hospital
(WGH) in Kendal.
The creation of the Surgical Hub, along with
work to build a new £8.6million Community
Diagnostic Centre (CDC) to house the latest
scanning technology, takes recent investment
in WGH to £22.3million.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS
Foundation Trust (UHMBT) is making this huge
investment into the Surgical Hub and CDC with
the aim of providing excellent care, treatment
and experience for the people of Morecambe
Bay. The Trust also aims to safely reduce
length of stay for patients, reduce waiting
times, create an enhanced work environment
for patients and colleagues, and make the
service more ef昀椀cient.
This exciting project is being carried out over
a number of phases and is now approaching
its 昀椀nal phase. The Surgical Hub will be for
elective (planned) care and will feature the
following:
A new four storey extension
Two completely new operating theatres
Upgrading of three existing theatres
A new plant room with new air handling
systems
Extension of the existing Operating Theatres
Recovery Area
Siting of all of the surgical wards, theatres and
associated services on the same 昀氀oor
‘Ultra clean’ canopy technology in all theatres
New support spaces, storage and ancillary
spaces
All facilities located in close proximity to
the new CDC for ease of access to specialist
scanning and diagnostic technology.
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The Surgical Hub will be for elective (planned)
surgery and will cover multiple surgical
disciplines. It is being built on Level 3 of the
hospital and has an estimated completion date
of July 2024. This major investment at WGH
sees UHMBT’s strategy - ‘Putting Patients
First’ – in action.
Approximately 70 substantive members of
staff will work in the Surgical Hub as well as
support staff. Registered Nurses, Riza Mae
Cruz, Marijel Tenido and Gladys Pena, who
work in one of the theatres which has been
completed so far, said they liked working in
the new and modern environment.
Samantha Pugh, Theatres Matron at WGH, said:
“We really welcome this investment. Our new
Surgical Hub will provide 360 degrees of care –
all aspects of surgical care and treatment will
be provided in the hub.
“We have already started the transformation
of WGH into a Surgical Hub and we’ve had
very positive feedback from patients who
have told us they have really enjoyed being on
the surgical ward and having more one-to-one
care. Patients have said they felt that staff
gave them time and real support. Colleagues
have also said they like the new and modern
environment. We went to the Westmorland
County Show to engage with the local
community and people were very interested
and happy to hear about the new hub.
THE OPERATING THEATRE JOURNAL
“At Kendal we have very experienced staff
who take great pride in their work. There’s
a real family atmosphere because we see
patients right from the beginning of their care
through to the end. It’s nice being part of a big
team. Having everyone in one place is going
to be a real bene昀椀t for patients and for the
team’s morale. It will make working here even
better and safer for everyone. With every new
theatre that opens, it’s a really big tick and a
real sense of achievement.”
Daniel Bakey, Associate Director of Operations
for the Surgery and Critical Care Group at
UHMBT, said: “The development of the Kendal,
Elective Surgical Hub has been many years in
the making. As we approach the completion of
the current phase, we are extremely excited
to have modern, purpose built theatres that
are 昀椀t for the 21st Century. We want to deliver
the very best treatment in the very best
environment and this supports that.
“There are many advantages to the
development of the elective Surgical Hub
at Kendal, one of the main ones being that
we will be able to do support more routine,
urgent and cancer surgery. We have already
undertaken a signi昀椀cant exercise to redesign
our theatre timetable, delivered a project
to reduce length of stay for hip and knee
replacements and to commence expanding the
hub prior to the capital works completing. Our
Capital Services Team is doing a fantastic job
on this challenging project.
“The Surgical Hub will improve communication
between team members because everything
will be in one place in the hospital. We have
been reliant on temporary, hired mobile
operating theatres over the past two years
and welcome opening permanent, reliable,
sizeable and purpose-built theatres in the
coming months.”
Source: beyondradio
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