A new orthopaedic centre has opened at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
It will have its own facilities including:
- A same day admissions unit, treatment rooms.
- Post Anaesthetics Care Unit
- A 21-bedded ward, called Ashill
- Physiotherapy rooms
- And a pharmacy and dispensing room.
Some of the most up to date surgical equipment has been provided by the N&N Hospitals Charity which supported the build with a £2m grant – the biggest single grant in its history.
The new centre will being carrying out procedures three days a week, with an ambition of running six days a week later in the year.
Once it is running at full capacity, the team will carry out around 2,500 orthopaedic cases a year for patients who need ankle, foot, hip, knee or shoulder operations.
To help with this work, four new consultants who are experts in hip, knee, shoulder and hand surgery have been employed to bring the most innovative techniques to the team.
All staff are receiving training in the Trust’s Advanced Recovery Programme, which focuses on sending patients home as early and as safely as possible.
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Consultant Surgeon Jim Wimhurst said: “The main ethos of the unit is for ‘enhanced recovery’ ie getting patients up and about after surgery with a combination of surgical, anaesthetic techniques, tailored analgesia regimes and targeted physiotherapy. Our current length of stay is three days.
“The idea is to get patients home after a day for hip and knee replacement and some even home on the day of surgery.
“The unit is slightly removed from the main hospital and suitable for patients without complex medical needs.
“By moving those patients to NANOC frees up space on the in-patient orthopaedic ward (Cringleford) for patients with more complex medical needs or more complex surgery.”
He added: “We have been supported amazingly by the N&N Hospitals Charity, which has helped us with buying some of the most up to date equipment currently available. I’d like to say a huge thank you to them.”
Lesley Dwyer NNUH Chief Executive said: “This centre will build on the improvements we are already starting to see in our performance relating to our elective procedures including treating 78,000 patients in the last 12 months. This new centre will mean that we can reduce cancellations and continue elective work despite winter and external pressures.
“We really believe that this model works and already are planning on expansion plans to build a second unit, which will double our capacity and go a long way in helping us reduce our patient waiting lists.”
Julie Cooper, Head of Charity for NN Hospitals Charity said: “It has been lovely to hear how pleased the Elective Orthopaedics team are with their new facility. We look forward to continuing our support for the unit, having seen how our £2m grant is being put to good use to improve the patient experience.”
