Lancashire operating theatres open to reduce Covid backlog

Three new operating theatres have been opened to reduce a backlog in pre-planned surgery caused by the pandemic.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust set up the operating spaces after it was revealed in August how 6,860 patients had waited more than a year for treatment.

The theatres at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital will be used for day-case operations from Wednesday.

The trust said they should increase overall efficiency at the trust.

It is also hoped they will help restore theatre capacity to pre-pandemic levels.

Figures reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service showed that immediately prior to the onset of the pandemic, there were zero patients waiting for surgery at the trust.

The operations performed at the theatres will range from minor procedures through to more complex surgery such as breast mastectomies, neuro-spinal activity and orthopaedic joint work.

Katie Tierney, clinical business manager for theatres and anaesthetics, said: "We are hoping that because these spaces are new, modern and with the technology that we need, that we will actually see an increase in efficiency and be able to tackle some of that backlog due to Covid."

She added the atmosphere had been "buoyant" and staff were "really excited".

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