THOUSANDS more patients in the West Midlands will benefit from NHS treatment by next year thanks to new surgical spaces, the NHS announced today.
As part of the biggest and most ambitious catch-up plan in NHS history, an estimated 15,945 additional surgeries and 26,034 additional outpatient appointment will be provided at new surgical hubs, expanded existing hubs and new theatres dedicated to elective care in the West Midlands.
It comes on the one year anniversary of the Elective Recovery Plan – since then, staff have virtually eliminated two-year waits for care while December saw the backlog go down for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.
Surgical hubs are separated from emergency services in hospitals meaning tests and operations can continue in one place, largely unaffected by increased pressure in other parts of the hospital, such as covid and flu.
The Targeted Investment Fund (TIF) will provide almost 600 new beds (584) specifically for elective care, dozens of elective theatres which will deliver state-of-the-art treatment and nearly 90 more critical care beds across the country (87).
Since the elective recovery was published last year, the NHS has performed almost 120 million diagnostic tests – 6% higher than in the same period last year – and offered 13.5 million elective appointments and treatments – nine per cent higher than in the same period last year.
The additional investment in elective recovery through the 2021 Spending Review will enable year-on-year increases in activity with thousands of additional people in the West Midlands potentially being treated by 2024/25.
The major boost will help bring down waiting times for patients in the West Midlands and generally allow more patients to be discharged on the same day as their surgery due to investment in dedicated day-case units.
