WHISTON Hospital is now home to one of 50 new surgical hubs opening across the country to help bust Covid-19 backlogs.

These hubs will provide at least 100 more operating theatres and over 1,000 beds so people get the surgery they need.

They will also deliver almost two million extra routine operations to reduce waiting lists over the next three years, backed by £1.5 billion in government funding.

They will focus mainly on providing high volume low complexity surgery, as previously recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, with particular emphasis on ophthalmology, general surgery, trauma and orthopaedics (including spinal surgery), gynaecology, ear nose and throat, and urology.

Located on existing hospital sites, surgical hubs bring together skills and expertise of staff under one roof – reducing waiting times for some of the most common procedures such as cataract surgeries and hip replacements.

These operations can be performed quickly and effectively in one place. Improving quality and efficiency will mean patients have shorter waits for surgery, will be more likely to go home on the same day, and will be less likely to need additional treatment after surgery.

As the hubs are separated from emergency services, surgical beds are kept free for patients waiting for planned operations, reducing the risk of short-notice cancellations and improving infection control.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “In order to bust the COVID-19 backlogs and keep pace with future demands, we can’t simply have business as usual.

“Surgical hubs are a really tangible example of how we are already innovating and expanding capacity to fill surgical gaps right across the country, to boost the number of operations and reduce waiting times for vital procedures.

“We have already made progress in tackling the longest waiting lists to offer patients quicker access to treatment, and these new surgical hubs will in their own right deliver additional operations over the next 3 years, including over 200,000 this year alone.

The government has worked with the NHS to identify which areas will benefit most from surgical hubs. The selection process for surgical hub locations is clinically led and aims to ensure the new hubs are connected to the right local services – such as acute hospital sites – and tackle local healthcare inequalities while promoting the best outcomes for patients and delivering value for taxpayers.

The new hubs will offer a mix of outpatient and admitted (including overnight or day case) surgeries, delivering nearly 2 million additional procedures over the next 3 years, equal to 12% of all elective activity in 2019 to 2020. They will encourage the most efficient forms of surgeries, ensuring that fewer patients are kept overnight and saving more time to carry out additional