Move to increase surgery

Members of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH) board will be asked when they meet today to approve an outline proposal to increase the number of operations in gynaecology, urology and general surgery.

If it gets the green light then Wharfedale's workload could increase from around 3,000 operations a year to more than 5,200.

LTH Chief Executive Neil McKay said: "This is a welcome development which re-affirms our commitment to using Wharfedale Hospital to its full potential.

"A number of services have been moved or are planned to move from the hospital as part of our commitment to improve quality and efficiency through centralisation.

"But our intention has always been that Wharfedale would have an important role to play, particularly in increasing the amount of day surgery we perform. This is an important first step along that road."

Wharfedale currently provides services for six specialities - general surgery, vascular surgery, gynaecology, orthopaedics, ENT (Ears, Nose and Throat) and ophthalmology.

But orthopaedic day case surgery is due to move to the new Chapel Allerton Orthopaedic Centre (CHOC) later this year, while the ophthalmic service will be centralised at St James's Hospital as part of LTH's acute services reconfiguration (ASR) project.

With the full support of the Trust Clinical Council and the Surgical Pathways Improvement Project, hospital bosses have now agreed a range of procedures that can be safely delivered at Wharfedale.

These will be supported by improvements to the administrative system, including the development of a single pre-assessment process and the introduction of positive booking, which allows patients to have their operation on a date and time that suits them.

If approved by the board, the plans will be outlined in detail to the Wharfedale Hospital Forum - a group made up of hospital managers, Primary Care Trust representatives and community leaders - later this month.