£20 million Day Surgery Unit at Prince Philip Hospital to open next month

Work is nearing completion on the new Day Surgery Unit at Prince Philip Hospital, in Llanelli, which will help reduce surgical waiting lists for patients across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.

The unit includes two theatres, designed specifically to reduce risk of infection by generating a continuous flow of bacteria free air, as well as preparation rooms, anaesthetic rooms, changing facilities and a recovery area.

The theatres will have capacity to run six days of the week and will cover specialties including orthopaedics, general surgery, urology and vascular surgery, although this work will be phased in following the opening of the unit next month.

Hywel Dda University Health Board has delivered the scheme thanks to £20m of Welsh Government funding.

Consultant surgeon and Clinical Director for Scheduled Care Mr Ken Harries said: “We are looking ultimately for around four to five thousand patients to receive procedures in this unit annually.

“We are ambitious on behalf of our communities and are extending our theatre sessions and days to maximise efficiency and see patients, some of whom have had to sometimes wait significant amounts of time.

“There is a continued challenge of getting the workforce to help us deliver this, but that is a challenge we share with the NHS across the country and one which we are putting all our efforts into. We hope this first-class facility and our approach to recovery, will attract future recruits.

“An added advantage this unit will give us is that it is stand alone, which protects it from impacts within the main hospital wider activity, this will be of huge benefit to patients coming into the unit and for our staff also.”

Ambitious

Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan said: “Investing in new facilities such as the day surgery unit at Prince Philip Hospital is a vital part of our ambitious strategy to transform planned care in Wales.

“This new unit will help to see thousands of people in need of surgical treatment in the Hywel Dda health board area, as well as those from neighbouring health boards, and will bring more resilience and capacity for NHS Wales to care for people when they need it.”