THE number of day surgery patients at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary is on the rise.

Day case surgery allows patients to have operations for a range of conditions, then return home on the same day.

More than 8,000 patients benefited from the super-swift surgery over the last year ending in April, 2010. The figures compares with 5,000 in 1998/1999.

One of those is Christine Craven, a support worker, from Newsome. She had keyhole surgery to remove her gall bladder and said: “Everything went very smoothly. I had surgery in the morning and was home by 4.30pm the same day.

“It is great progress and the staff were fantastic.”

The day surgery unit at HRI has four patient assessment rooms, three operating theatres, recovery area and patient waiting lounges.

It opened in 1997 and the unit has dedicated Fridays for children’s surgery for conditions ranging from dental extractions and squints to hernia repair.

Around 75% of all planned operations are now carried out as day surgery procedures.

Divisional director of surgery and anaesthetics David Wise said: “With advances in surgery, anaesthetics and best medical practices, more procedures can be carried out as day cases, without the need for an overnight stay in hospital.

“It is a more efficient use of our resources by reducing waiting times and freeing up hospital beds for those patients who do need an overnight stay.”