NEW: State-of-the-art £5.7m theatres at QMC are open for business
New state-of-the-art operating theatres, equipped with the latest advanced technology, have been opened today at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC). This is part of a £5.7m main theatres upgrade at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).
The new operating theatres pathway will mean patients undergoing specialist surgery will have a seamless transfer to the new A Floor theatres at QMC, without any change to their treatment and care.
The first surgical specialties moving into the new theatres are Heptopancreatobilary (HPB) and Vascular surgery, with Colorectal surgery and Endoscopy following in the coming weeks.
Mr Alistair Simpson, a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at NUH, he is part of the team of specialities that will be moving into the new theatres.
Mr Simpson said: “These theatres will provide an opportunity to consolidate some of our surgical speciality services into one area. This will help us to deliver excellent care for patients and make better use of hospital resources. The new theatre operating rooms are fully equipped to deal with everything from minor operations through to complex cancer surgery.”
He added: “Patients will continue to receive high quality care in an appropriate environment and efficient manner. We aim to improve wait times for patients requiring surgery and create an environment that promotes the high quality skill sets and dedication that already exists in the surgical theatre teams.”
The new A Floor theatres upgrade at QMC is part of a £5.7m commitment NUH has made, which will see main theatres across NUH upgraded, four at a time, over the next few years.
Last year 52,642 surgical procedures took place in theatres across NUH, which is more than 4,000 procedures each month.
Hannah Sycamore, a Consultant Anaesthetist at NUH and is one of the team who will be moving into the new A Floor theatres. Hannah said: “This addition to our theatres estate at NUH provides us with the opportunity to expand surgical capability and capacity across Nottingham, which will allows us to see patients more efficiently. Over the five years, the demand on our services has increased and this latest development allows us to respond to this whilst also allowing us to future-proof and upgrade our other operating facilities across site.
“The new theatres will provide surgical specialities at NUH with the flexibility required to operate on our changing demographic. The new state-of-the-art facility at QMC has been designed and built with patients in mind.”
The new theatre opening sees an additional four operating theatres in use, with the first operation set to take place on Wednesday 1 May. This brings the total number of theatres at NUH to 56.
Mike Bennett, Divisional Director for Clinical Support Division at NUH, cut the ribbon to officially open the new facilities at QMC today. He said: “We are pleased to announce the opening of four new modular-build theatres at NUH on Friday. The project will deliver four new, modern theatres that will future-proof surgical services at NUH over the coming years. Initially they will be used to undertake a detailed overhaul of our existing main theatres at QMC to ensure they remain fit for purpose over the coming decade, while preserving our surgical capacity during this intensive programme of work.”
Click here to see photos and videos from our new A Floor theatre opening today.