A new operating theatre for orthopaedic surgery will respond to increasing demand and save the NHS money currently spent on treating patients in the private sector.
Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust is proposing the new theatre in a storage area at Colchester General Hospital's Constable wing. A ward would also be converted to provide beds for orthopaedic patients.
A request for £1.42m funding from Essex Strategic Health Authority (SHA) was discussed at a trust board meeting on Monday.
The trust can currently treat 1,600 orthopaedic patients per year.
The SHA will decide whether to support the scheme at a meeting soon, and if it is given approval the new theatre is expected to treat its first patients next June
Published Wednesday, October 6, 2004
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