Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH) will commence construction of an elective orthopaedic centre at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough in mid-July, following investment of almost £15 million from NHS England (NHSE).
Working in partnership with Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Rotherham Hospital Foundation Trust (TRFT), colleagues at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are leading the programme to create a new, dedicated orthopaedic hub for the people of South Yorkshire at Montagu Hospital, where healthcare professionals will undertake hip and knee replacement inpatient procedures, alongside foot and ankle, hand and wrist, and shoulder day case surgery.
Known currently as the Montagu Elective Orthopaedic Centre (MEOC), the facility will feature two ‘state-of-the-art’ theatre units, two anaesthetic rooms and a recovery suite, and 12 inpatient beds in a dedicated orthopaedic facility. The development will also benefit from its placement within Montagu Hospital, co-located with rehabilitation services and access to the planned Community Diagnostic Centre and a hydrotherapy pool.
In the first year of operation, it is envisaged it will undertake over 2,000 orthopaedic procedures on behalf of the three partner Trusts, equating to about 40% of the current orthopaedic waiting list locally. Another benefit of the location in Mexborough is that Montagu Hospital does not provide emergency services. This means that, despite peaks in activity within the wider acute hospitals, the MEOC will be ‘ring-fenced’ and protected against the usual cancellations and postponements which can be common as staff are moved elsewhere to help manage emergency pressures, particularly in winter.
Construction will begin in the week commencing 17 July, and is expected to take around seven months, with the new centre opening in early 2024. An official ground-breaking ceremony takes place today, 14 July.
Jon Sargeant, Executive director of Recovery, Innovation and Transformation, and Deputy Chief Executive at DBTH, said: “This is a fantastic development, and will see us significantly reduce the waiting list for operations such as knee and hip replacements, as well many other elective orthopaedic procedures. Working with our partners at Barnsley and Rotherham, we will be able to offer state-of-the-art facilities in a setting immune from the usual cancellations we often see within hospital settings. Furthermore, it will help outline our ambitions for Montagu Hospital as a centre of excellence for elective and diagnostic care, ensuring we are making the most of the site, and its unique and accessible location within the Dearne Valley.”
Analysis provided by South Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS) outlines that the region’s waiting list is around 43% greater than it was in March 2020. At present, 2,500 patients have waited over 52 weeks for their operation, of which two thirds are waiting for an orthopaedic procedure.
