COLCHESTER Hospital is set to house one of 20 new surgical hubs funded by a £1.5 billion Government project launched in a bid to break a waiting list backlog.

The Department for Health and Social Care has announced three hospitals in the East of England are among the "new and expanded hubs".

The Government hopes the surgical hubs will deliver two million extra operations across the country over the next three years.

Adrian Marr, director of finance and performance at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very pleased to have been awarded additional funding to build new laparoscopic theatres at Ipswich Hospital and the expansion of the new elective orthopaedic centre in the Dame Clare Marx Building at Colchester Hospital.

"These extra theatres and beds will make a tremendous difference to the communities we serve and help us deliver faster treatment and care."

Work has started on the new Dame Clare Marx Building, an orthopaedic ward opening in 2024 which will hold at least six theatres and two wards.

The new ward will allow patients from across East Suffolk and North Essex to receive dedicated care reducing the risk of operations being cancelled due to emergency cases.

Steve Barclay, health and social care secretary, said: “In order to bust the Covid 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 three years, including over 200,000 this year alone.”

Procedures such as ophthalmology, general surgery, trauma and orthopaedics, gynaecology, ear nose and throat, and urology are areas of focus for the hubs, bringing staff under one roof to reduce waiting times.

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.