New surgical hub will reduce NHS Covid backlog in Warrington

A NEW surgical hub, serving Warrington and Halton and boosting the number of patients the NHS is available to deal with, could be up and fully running by 2024/25.
It would be one of 13 surgical hubs across the North West providing an estimated 137,800 additional procedures and appointments a year for patients awaiting treatment.
NHS hospitals have been successful in securing £130.3 million to fund the 13 hub schemes.
The Warrington hub would be located at the existing Halton Hospital.
Surgical hubs have been introduced to help reduce the Covid-19 backlogs and offer patients quicker access to vital procedures.
They focus mainly on providing high volume low complexity surgery, focusing on ophthalmology, general surgery, trauma and orthopaedics (including spinal surgery), gynaecology, ear nose and throat, and urology. They bring together skills and expertise of staff under one roof – reducing waiting times for some of the most common procedures such as cataract surgeries and hip replacements.
These operations can be performed quickly and effectively in one place. Improving quality and efficiency will mean patients have shorter waits for surgery, will be more likely to go home on the same day, and will be less likely to need additional treatment after surgery. In addition, the hubs are separated from emergency services, which means surgical beds are kept free for patients waiting for planned operations, reducing the risk of short-notice cancellations and improving infection control.
Dr Michael Gregory, regional medical director for NHS England North West, said: “NHS staff are working extremely hard to deliver the Elective Recovery Plan, the most ambitious catch-up programme in health service history, applying the same determination displayed throughout the pandemic to address backlogs in routine care and reduce long waits. The surgical hubs provide a new way of working, as well as additional capacity, which will mean that we can continue to make progress with bringing down waiting times.
“The pandemic had a disproportionate impact on the North West and the NHS in the region has now been under significant pressure for a long time. This is due to a combination of high levels of COVID-19 circulating in our communities over the past two years, high levels of bed occupancy, the impact on hospital admission, staff absences due to COVID-19, and continuing high demand for services as people who have held off accessing the NHS with their health concerns during the pandemic start to come forward.”
The full list of surgical hub schemes is as follows:
· Northern Care Alliance NHS FT, Rochdale Infirmary
· Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, Royal Preston Hospital
· The Christie NHS FT
· Wirral University Hospitals NHS FT Clatterbridge Hospital
· Manchester University NHS FT, Trafford Hospital
· Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS FT, Leigh Infirmary
· Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS FT, Victoria Infirmary
· Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust, Southport and Ormskirk Hospital sites
· East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
· Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, Halton Hospital
· St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Whiston Hospital
· East Cheshire NHS Trust, Macclesfield Hospital
· Alder Hey Children’s NHS FT
· University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FT, Westmoreland General
The latest published data shows that 11 per cent more people were seen for elective in-patient appointments and 14 per cent more were seen as elective day-case appointments in August this year, compared to the start of the year in January.
Dr Gregory added: “NHS staff are really pulling out all the stops, to try and make sure that patients are seen as quickly as possible.
“It’s really important that anyone who has symptoms they are concerned about continues to come forward, so that they can be seen, diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible, and that people make sure they attend or cancel appointments if they can no longer make them.”