NHS England has announced that by next year, an estimated 780,000 additional surgeries and outpatient appointments will be provided at 37 new surgical hubs, 10 expanded existing hubs and 81 new theatres dedicated to elective care.
Surgical hubs are separated from emergency services in hospitals meaning tests and operations can continue in one place, largely unaffected by increased pressure in other parts of the hospital, such as covid and flu.
The Targeted Investment Fund (TIF) will provide almost 600 new beds (584) specifically for elective care. Eelective theatres will provide around 90 more critical care beds across the country.
Since the elective recovery plan was published last year, the NHS has performed almost 120 million diagnostic tests. Elective care was delivered for 70,000 more patients in November compared to the same period pre-pandemic.
NHS National Director of Elective Recovery, Sir Jim Mackey said:
“This additional capacity will ensure we continue to address the covid backlog as we increase the number of tests, operations and appointments the NHS can offer."
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:
“These new surgical hubs speed up access to treatment for hundreds of thousands of patients up and down the country – providing 780,000 additional surgery and outpatient appointments.
“Bringing together the skills and expertise of staff under one roof will ensure we keep pace with future demand and rapidly reduce waiting times, getting patients access to vital procedures when and where they need them.”
Urgent cancer referrals have been at record levels since March 2021 with over a quarter of a million people (264,391) checked in November, with more than nine in 10 people starting treatment within a month.
Cancer is one area in which treatment capacity will be increased, with Basildon Hospital expanding lung cancer surgery capacity and Royal Preston adding a new theatre to carry out various cancer surgeries.
King George’s Hospital surgical hub at Barking under Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) will receive £14m to add two new theatres to the hub, which focuses on the six specialities that make up 70 per cent of the trusts waiting list – general surgery, ENT, trauma and orthopaedics, ophthalmology, urology and gynaecology.
Tim Mitchell, Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said:
“This is excellent for patients, it is also positive news for surgeons who have shared with us their frustration at not being able to get patients in for their operations due to a lack of theatre capacity.
“These new surgical hubs will allow NHS staff to build on the hard work that has already been done to reduce the backlog left by Covid and it will also bring us closer to meeting the target of no patient waiting more than 18 months by April this year.”
The hubs will mainly focus on high volume low complexity surgery and will help address variation across the country to give patients great control over their treatments.
