Multimillion-pound hospital surgery centre opens

1 hour ago

Matthew LockwoodBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire

News image — The new surgical centre boosts St Albans City Hospital's overall capacity to eight operating theatres

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust The new surgical centre at St Albans City Hospital, which is clad in metal and has rows of tall windows. Above the entrance is a green-and-white sign reading: "Welcome to Day Surgery Unit". — The new surgical centre boosts St Albans City Hospital's overall capacity to eight operating theatres

A new surgical centre to help cut waiting lists and speed up treatments for thousands of people has opened at a hospital.

The facility at St Albans City Hospital in Hertfordshire has four modern operating theatres that can accommodate hi-tech robotic surgery.

The site will be used to carry out procedures including urology, breast surgery, and ear, nose and throat (ENT) operations.

Bosses said the changes, which are part of a £100m upgrade of the hospital, will deliver about 2,300 extra operations each year.

Matthew Coats, chief executive of West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the site, said: "This has the potential to be a real game-changer and deliver the first-class services our communities deserve."

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust A large excavator removed part of an existing building to help create the £100m surgical centre. The excavator is fitted with a demolition grab attachment, which has pulled away a section of the building's exterior. — Demolition work to create the new theatres at the hospital began in 2024

Hospital bosses said the new surgical centre was ring-fenced for planned operations, meaning patients would be less likely to have appointments cancelled because of emergency pressures.

Figures published this month showed an estimated 7.37 million treatments were waiting to be carried out across England at the end of August, relating to 6.24 million patients.

Earlier this year, a new Community Diagnostic Centre opened at the St Albans hospital to provide diagnostic care closer to home, with ultrasound, MRI and CT scans.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust The interior of a modern operating theatre equipped with robotic surgery technology. Daisy Cooper and two members of clinical staff are standing beside a large robotic surgical system. All are wearing red surgical scrubs and blue surgical caps in a bright, sterile hospital environment. — Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans, being shown the surgical centre's robotic technology

Work has also begun on a new endoscopy unit at the site, which will provide access to the latest diagnostic tests, helping doctors identify illnesses more quickly.

Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: "Being ill and needing an operation can be a very anxious time; it can disrupt sleep, caring arrangements, family life, work and personal finances.

"The benefits that this new [surgical] centre will bring - precision surgery, being able to return home sooner and recover faster - will genuinely improve people's health outcomes and their quality of life."

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