HUNDREDS of surgeries could be moved from a neighbouring county to a new unit at Colchester Hospital under new proposals from health bosses.
Plans from the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) outline potential arrangements to move 55 per cent of orthopaedic elective surgical procedures from Suffolk to Colchester.
The operations would be moved from West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds to the state-of-the-art Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre (ESEOC) in the Dame Clare Marx Centre at Colchester Hospital.
The construction of the new facility is underway at the site, which will be the largest in Europe, with the centre due to open in the summer.
The proposals, which were discussed at a meeting of the ICB earlier this week, would relocate nearly 1,500 procedures to the new Colchester site.
Plans show most would be hip and knee surgeries, with 80 per cent of both being moved across to Colchester.
All orthopaedic trauma surgery and paediatric orthopaedic activity would remain in West Suffolk.
Health bosses say the move would mean “reduced waiting times for surgery” and a “reduced risk of short-notice cancellations”.
“It will also create additional capacity at West Suffolk Hospital for recovery,” ICB papers say.
All patients would have the choice of where they wish to be treated.
Dr Ewen Cameron, chief executive of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT), said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for those people in West Suffolk waiting a long time for elective care.
“A really excellent opportunity to shorten their waiting times and for them to be treated in a state-of-the-art facility.”
“If we get this right, it’s a win-win,” added ICB chair Professor William Pope.
The ICB and the WSFT is now proposing to run a six-week public engagement exercise during May and June.
It will seek public feedback on the trust’s proposal to relocate some elective orthopaedic procedures to the ESEOC and to understand the impact this would have on patients across west Suffolk.
The public engagement exercise would also seek to understand what, if any, impact there would be for patients waiting to be treated by the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust living in north east Essex.
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