A new multi-million pound operating theatre complex has opened at Royal Bolton Hospital to help tackle waiting lists.
The four new theatres opened as part of the £19.6million Elective Care Centre at the Minerva Road hospital this month.
According to staff, they will be used to treat as many as 5,000 patients every year and will help to drastically reduce the time people have to spend waiting for operations.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust chief finance officer Annette Walker said: “It is absolutely brilliant to see this fantastic new facility open on time and on schedule.
“The increase in Bolton’s theatre capacity will make such a difference for the experience our patients receive and help bring down the number of people waiting for their operation.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how these theatres improve the lives of people in Bolton and beyond.”
In total, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has received £19.6million from the government to work on the four new theatres aimed at reducing surgery backlogs across the borough.
The new theatres have been staffed partly through the trust’s theatre academy project in partnership with the University of Bolton and first opened on Monday January 15.
They will be used for inpatients and adult day patients, which includes people needing ear, nose, throat, oral or urology surgery or other general specialities.
So far, the first three patients treated at the new centre have had surgery for breast cancer, ear, nose and throat surgery and oral surgery.
Works began on the new theatres in 2022 with formal planning permission having been granted in December of that year.
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NHS leaders at the time argued that they would be crucial to driving down waiting lists and ensuring that as many patients were treated as quickly as possible.
As well as the four new theatres, two integrated wards have also been built as part of the development.
Trust staff have asked patients who use the new theatres to use the existing car parks on the Royal Bolton Hospital site.
The nearest car park is found between the new theatres and the Princess Anne maternity unit.
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