Trafford surgery hub helping to cut waiting lists

A surgical hub set up to reduce NHS waiting times is making a “massive difference” to patients’ lives, health workers have said.

The hub at Trafford General Hospital was opened last year and carries out about 250 procedures a week.

It is able to operate faster as beds are not taken up by emergency patients.

Lisa Clarke, 53, from Whalley Range in Manchester, recently had a double hip replacement and said it has “changed her life”.

Ms Clarke, who had suffered with arthritis for around eight years, said prior to surgery “the pain was unbelievable”.

She said: “I couldn’t just do the things I wanted to, I used to eat painkillers like smarties. I was thinking if I’d ever walk again property”.

Ms Clarke said the procedure at the Trafford Elective Surgery Hub had “made such a difference”.

“I can actually walk to the bathroom and use the toilet. I used to cycle and exercise but in the next six months I’ll be doing that again,” she said.

Nurse Nikkita Ross said the facility was making a “massive difference” to patients.

She said: “The pain that patients are in before their operations can be really bad. After the surgery, its like a weight has been lifted form them.”

The hub was created last year for procedures such as cataract operations, gynaecological surgery and hip replacements.

Its creation came as waiting lists for planned NHS treatment in England this year hit a record high of 7.75 million.

The figure at the end of August was up more than 100,000 on the month before.

Nearly 9,000 people in England are estimated to have been waiting more than 18 months to start their treatment, NHS data suggests.

The hub’s clinical director Greg Cook said: “We can plan our services much better.

“The bulk of our work is day-case, focussing on planned surgery allows us to get really efficient like the private sector – leaving the acute care to the main hospitals.

“A surgeon going to work and then having to wait because of emergency work isn’t very efficient.”

There are four elective surgery hubs in Greater Manchester, at Trafford General Hospital, Fairfield in Bury, Wrightington in Wigan and at Withington in Manchester.

There are currently nine operating theatres at Trafford General and work will begin next year on two more.