Patients in south east London should see reduced waiting lists for routine procedures, after the opening of two new operating theatres at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup.
The new theatres were refurbished by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and are being run by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, with a number of fellow London trusts benefitting from the new facilities.
This will include surgical teams from Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust.
Teams will use the operating theatres to carry out high volume, low complexity procedures, with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS FT providing anaesthetic support.
Waiting times for routine procedures and operations have significantly increased due to the pandemic, with the new operating theatres just one of the steps being taken to speed up patient access to treatment.
Surgical teams from the different trusts are working collaboratively to ensure patients get the treatment they need as soon as possible. Operations carried out in the new theatres include general surgery and gynaecology specialities, with capacity to carry out as many as 75 procedures a week.
This is the first time the different NHS organisations have come together to provide services in this way, working together through the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative.
