Raigmore Expansion In Bid To Slash Waiting Lists

A major expansion of Raigmore Hospital is being proposed which would enable 75 per cent of patients undergoing non-emergency surgery to be sent home on the day of their operation.

Health officials are today expected to expand their original plans for a day case unit and ask ministers to fund a four-theatre complex costing an estimated £13.9 million.

If approved, building work is scheduled to start in August next year with the centre up and running by May 2010. It would have its own staff and avoid routine operations such as hernias, varicose veins and minor eye procedures

being cancelled to make way for emergencies, which would continue to be dealt with within the existing hospital. It should also help reduce waiting lists.

“The development of a purpose-built facility would not only impact on the current use of beds and reduce unnecessary administration but would significantly improved the patient experience,” states Elaine Mead, NHS

Highland’s chief operating officer, in a report to today’s meeting of NHS Highland in Inverness.

Highland is currently the only mainland health board area in Scotland not to have a dedicated hospital day case unit.

Last year, local officials prepared an outline business case for a purpose-built three-theatre centre at Raigmore costing £10.5 million, which would have handled 52 per cent of the hospital’s elective surgery cases.

But since then national policy has changed and the target is now to see 75 per cent of such patients as day cases, prompting health officials to propose the more ambitious scheme.

“This makes a significant difference to our initial calculations and the revised capacity calculations have clarified that four theatres will now be required in the new facility,” Ms Mead explains in her report, adding that the unit would also represent “a significant change” in working practices for staff.

The new complex would have a dedicated ophthalmology theatre while some sections would be set aside for the exclusive of use children, such as a consulting room and play area and where possible, sessions for paediatric and

adult surgery would be at different times. But health officials did not feel the extra cost of providing an area completely devoted to children was justified.

The building would be strong enough for a second floor to be added at a later date, if required.

If it goes ahead, the day case unit would add £1.67 million to Raigmore’s annual running costs, although this could be offset by some ward closures as fewer patients require an overnight stay.

The project is expected to help with staff recruitment and retention, as many doctors and anaesthetists are looking to work in modern day surgical facilities, and free up capacity in the main theatres. This in turn would allow the

creation of a procedure set-up room in one of the existing theatres, enabling inroads to be made into Raigmore’s lengthy orthopaedic waiting list.