A brand-new building is being constructed at a Norfolk hospital which aims to cut waiting lists for patients across the county.
The Orthopaedic Elective Hub will be at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston and will operate seven days a week offering 1400 extra operating theatre sessions a year.
The new building will free-up theatre sessions in the hospital’s main hospital theatres complex, resulting in thousands of additional procedures for other surgical specialties including urology, gynaecology, general surgery and ear, nose and throat.
This will not just be enough for all the hospital’s planned orthopaedic operations but also extra cases from across Norfolk and Waveney.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has agreed funding of £17 million for the hub, which will have two operating theatres, a post-surgery recovery area and four patient bays.
Building work will begin in Autumn 2023, with the hub opening in July 2024.
James Paget Chief Executive Jo Segasby said: “We are delighted that the DHSC has awarded us this funding, so that we can progress our plans for the new Orthopaedic Elective Hub.
“The hub will focus on providing orthopaedic surgery, with its own dedicated staff, to help us reduce the time that people are waiting for their procedures, not just locally but across the Norwich and Waveney system as a whole.
“Its creation underlines our commitment to delivering the best possible service for our patients – and is the latest step along the path of creating modern facilities for our patients here at Gorleston, including a new hospital by 2030.”
The hub will be based on land at the northern end of the James Paget site, which is already home to the £15 million Concept Ward, which opened earlier this summer, and the Diagnostic Centre which is currently in the early stages of construction.
The Concept Ward incorporates the latest technology and features mainly spacious single rooms with en-suite facilities, to provide a comfortable environment to aid with patient recovery.
Its initial purpose is to provide additional capacity to allow wards in the main hospital to be ‘decanted’ one-by-one while a programme of refurbishment, including work to the building’s roof, takes place.
Together, the Orthopaedic Elective Hub, Diagnostic Centre and Concept Ward form the first phase in the creation of a new hospital healthcare campus at the James Paget.
