New NHS Treatment Centres given go-ahead providing much needed extra capacity.
The Department of Health has today given the go-ahead for new NHS Treatment Centres in the South West, offering faster treatment and greater choice for patients.
The services - which will provide much needed NHS capacity across the South West - will be provided by UK Specialist Hospitals Ltd (UKSH). The centres will carry out a range of routine, planned operations, and will be open to patients by autumn 2009.
UKSH currently provides services at the Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre. The success of this centre means that demand already exceeds capacity, and patients are delighted with the treatment that they receive.
The South West Strategic Health Authority's recently published Draft Strategic Framework sets out ambitious plans to reduce waiting times for non-urgent operations from 18 weeks to eight. The extra capacity provided by these new centres will help the NHS in the South West to meet this challenging target.
The new developments are:
Building work on the new NHS Treatment Centres is due to start in the summer of 2008, and UKSH will start treating patients from autumn 2009.
They will offer a ranged of both day case procedures, and planned inpatient procedures normally found in large hospitals, but closer to where patients live. Diagnostic procedures and outpatient appointments will also be available.
Health Minister and Minister for the South West, Ben Bradshaw, MP said:
"We know that patients want to be treated faster and closer to home. These new NHS Centres will mean patients have faster treatment, more choice and have to travel less for treatment."
"NHS Treatment Centres have already made a positive contribution to patients, having reduced waiting times for thousands of patients with painful and debilitating conditions."
Sir Ian Carruthers OBE, Chief Executive of NHS South West added:
"This is great news for patients across the South West. The new NHS centres will mean that patients have greater choice about where they are treated for routine, planned surgery."
"The NHS in the South West is now back in strong financial health, and this allows us to forge ahead with plans to modernise NHS services for the benefit of local patients."
"The new centres will provide much-needed greater capacity for the NHS locally, and will not lead to the closure of any exising facilities. They provide us with the opportunity to continue to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment for South West patients."
"The Bristol Health Services Plan is unaffected by these new centres. The existing major developments involving Southmead Hospital and the new Community Hospital at Frenchay are being progressed as planned."
Fiona Calnan, Chief Executive, UKSH said "The new treatment centres will provide NHS patients in the region with significantly increased clinical resources together with more choice as to when and where they are treated. Our experience is that patients value the choice, reliability and clinical excellence UKSH offers. UKSH's existing facility in Shepton Mallet is one of the UK's top performing NHS Treatment Centres and enjoys a successful working relationship with the local NHS teams and has developed a reputation for excellent quality in patient care. We are pleased to be able to offer our services to more people in the South West."