Mobile theatre is set to cut waiting times

Jan 10 2008 by Anne-Marie Bradley, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Mobile theatre is set to cut waiting times

A MOBILE operating theatre is being set up in a Holmfirth car park to help cut NHS waiting times.

From next week, patients having day surgery at Holme Valley Memorial Hospital could receive their treatment in a new, temporary unit under measures to cut the number of people on lists for procedures including bunions, toe reshaping and mole removal.

More than 250 extra patients needing plastic surgery, dermatology and podiatry operations are expected to be operated on in the portable theatre by the end of February.

The move is in anticipation of a Government target, to be introduced in October, for all patients to be treated within 18 weeks of their original referral.

Kirklees Primary Care Trust is commissioning the temporary service.

Chief executive Mike Potts, said: “It is excellent news that Kirklees PCT is one of the first in the country to use this ground-breaking service.

“It will be of great benefit to patients in reducing their wait for these treatments.

“In accordance with the NHS Plan, this is one of the ways in which the PCT is looking to provide services that were previously only available in an acute setting closer to home.”

The sophisticated unit, which will be on site until the end of February, comes fully-equipped with facilities for anaesthesia, operating and recovery.

Independent provider Vanguard Healthcare is supplying the £1m centre, which is chassis-mounted and built to Department of Health standards.

It arrives flat-packed and can be expanded on two sides to create a much larger clinical area.

The company also provides two experienced theatre nurses to work alongside NHS surgeons.

Pam Linton, day surgery team leader at Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, said the staff were looking forward to the unit’s opening next week.

She said: “It is exactly the same as a theatre used for hip replacement operations or open heart surgery. There is no difference just because it is mobile.

“These theatres have been used by hospitals, including Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and The Nuffield, in the past.

“It is so exciting and we are just busy getting it all sorted now to make sure we are ready to receive patients on Monday morning.”

Ian Monaghan, business development director at Vanguard Healthcare, said: “We are delighted to be working with such a progressive organisation as Kirklees PCT.

“Making these additional operations available at the community hospital in Holmfirth means that people get their operation on time and healthcare delivery is kept close to the community.”