A NEW multi-million pound state of the art surgery facility has finally opened its doors at Colchester Hospital.
The purpose-built centre, known as the Dame Clare Marx Building, is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and will help change the lives of up to 10,000 people each year.
The centre, which has created around 300 jobs in the area, is dedicated to pre-planned surgery for bones, joints, and muscles, meaning operations are less likely to be postponed, reducing waiting times and lists.
The centre has eight theatres, three wards, and 72 inpatient beds.
Nick Hulme, chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the centre, said: "This is a fantastic day for us as a trust and for those people across Suffolk and north east Essex who are currently waiting, in pain, for an operation that will help them to get back to their normal lives.
"We have created one of the largest centres in Europe dedicated solely to elective care.
"The funding of which is, in no small part, a result of the merger of our two trusts, enabling us to access higher levels of funding and showing that together, as one trust, we can achieve great things for the people who we come to work for every day – our patients.
"I want to thank everyone for their involvement in this huge project.
"Everyone has worked extremely hard to get us to this point and we couldn’t have done any of it without their superb efforts."
First patients receiving treatment
The first patients are now receiving treatment at Colchester Hospitals purpose built surgery base.
One of the first patients to have surgery in the centre was fossil hunter David Spaul.
Mr Spaul is undergoing reconstructive surgery on his ACL ligament in his knee after injuring himself in April when a night-time fossil hunting expedition turned into a disaster.
The 64-year-old jumped from height from a sea defence onto the beach below at Walton, badly injuring his knee.
In incredible pain and all alone it took him more than an hour and a half to get himself off the beach and to a place of safety.
His seven-month wait for surgery has meant that as a self-employed taxidermist of large game animals, he has been unable to work or keep up his hobbies of fossil hunting or fishing.
Mr Spaul said: "I’m really looking forward to getting the surgery done.
"I haven’t been fishing since April or looking for fossils and I know they’ve been finding some really good stuff.
"I haven’t let it get me down, but I have just tried to be sensible as I didn’t want to slip or injure myself further."
Building began last year
The building is made up of 289 pre-built modules which started being lifted into place by a huge crane in February last year.
This technique meant the centre could be built more quickly than using more traditional methods of building.
MTX Contracts Ltd is the site management team for the construction of the centre.
Scott McCaskie, MTX director, said: “The Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre project at Colchester Hospital is a landmark development both in terms of its size – with eight operating theatres dedicated to elective orthopaedic surgery and more than 70 patient beds – and its achievement as the largest building of its kind in the UK created using modern methods of construction employing off-site manufactured structural steel units, services modules and the best of traditional building techniques.
“The sloping site was challenging but MTX has worked very closely in partnership with the Trust to deliver a design and build project of which we are all hugely proud, and which will make a massive difference to patient care and waiting lists.
“Modern methods of construction enable MTX to deliver urgently needed high quality facilities for the NHS faster, greener, safer and more cost effectively than ever before, and we continue to improve our processes to deliver projects which provide the best outcomes for patients and the best working environments for staff.”
Who was Dame Clare Marx?
Dame Clare Marx was a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital.
A trailblazing surgeon who served as the first female chair of the General Medical Council, she dug the first spadeful of earth as part of a ceremonial ground breaking which took place last year.
Sadly, Dame Marx – who was an orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital – died in November of pancreatic cancer.
A hospital trust spokesman said: "She had a truly exceptional career, including becoming the first female president of both the British Orthopaedic Association and The Royal College of Surgeons of England before becoming the Chair of the General Medical Council.
"We were delighted when Dame Clare accepted the invitation for the name of our new elective care centre to be named in her honour and that she was able to be with us at the start of building work.
"Dame Clare sadly died in November 2022, but we will be able to carry on her inspirational work in this pioneering new centre.
"Dame Clare was a caring and compassionate doctor to all her patients in east Suffolk and beyond.
"She was an outstanding ambassador for both Ipswich Hospital and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust since 2018. She championed women in medicine and has inspired thousands of young people to become clinicians."
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