Kendal’s Westmorland General Hospital will soon take the final steps to become a surgical hub thanks to an extra £7.6 million of funding.
The hospital became an elective green surgical hub in 2020. Hubs were set up to carry out more elective operations to help reduce the backlog of patients waiting for operations due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hub can treat more patients who are deemed suitable to have their procedure in that environment, it also frees up more space at Barrow’s Furness General Hospital and the Royal Lancster Infirmary.
NHS bosses said it meant that patients not able to have their procedure at the Westmorland General Hospital can be seen quicker at the hospital most appropriate for their needs.
The additional funding – awarded as part of the national Elective Recovery Plan – will be used to continue improving and expanding the theatre department.
Two theatres have already been renovated and the third due to be completed soon and the extra funding will pay for:
- The completion of two new permanent state-of-the-art operating theatres to remove the need for the hire of temporary, mobile surgical units
- The purchase of new medical equipment
- The expansion and upgrade of the recovery area where patients are taken following their surgical procedure
- The creation of a waiting area so patients are close to the operating theatres before their surgical procedure
- New support facilities for staff – including a rest room and changing facilities
- Energy efficiency measures using latest technologies, lighting and insulation to contribute towards the trust’s Net Zero Green Plan
- Improved and expanded storage facilities
Scott Mclean, chief operating officer of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This funding is great news for our teams and the communities we serve. This additional funding takes the total amount we are investing into surgical facilities at WGH to £16.7 million from 2019 to the end of this project.
“The development at WGH is a key part of our plans to cement the hospital as our hub for elective surgery and will allow us to offer more procedures to patients in state-of-the-art facilities.
“It will also reduce pressure on our other two acute hospitals in Barrow and Lancaster and give us the ability to continue surgical activity in case of another wave of COVID-19.”
The work is expected to be complete by mid-2023 and will see the hospital’s total number of permanent theatres increase from four to five, supported by a sixth modular theatre. This will allow the temporary Vanguard theatres currently on site to be removed.
Dr Wendy Craig, clinical director – surgery and critical care, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this additional funding. It will allow us to make some fantastic enhancements to the surgical facilities that we provide for patients, whilst also improving the environment that our teams work in.
“The teams are working hard to bring our plans to life; and we look forward to opening the new facilities next year.”
