Delay in opening of Oswestry orthopaedic hospital's new operating theatre

The theatre and ward development at Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital was originally due to be opened mid-June and was then put back to July 18.

Now, hospital bosses say this will instead be August 1with the first surgical patients on August 15.

Officials at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital in Gobowen, said the delays were "beyond our control".

The final building will include four new clean-air theatres, a high dependency unit, an admission-on-day-of-surgery unit, a 10-bedded ward and a tumour outpatients department.

The move was discussed at a hospital board meeting on Thursday after Bev Tabernacle, director of nursing at the trust, issued an update to staff.

She said: "This development is going to have a massive impact on the quality of care we can provide and I am excited because the first phase of the project is getting close to completion now.

"Unfortunately, delays beyond our control mean there has been a slip in the handover date and this has now been revised to August 1.

"We will then have a two-week period to get everything ready before the first surgical patients will enter the new building on August 15.

"Handover was originally scheduled for the middle of June and then revised to July 18. That slippage and this latest delay are both down to issues outside of the trust's control which have emerged in the final stages of the build.

"While this is frustrating it is not uncommon on projects of this size, and it is important that we get things right.

"At the end of the day, we are going to get a building that is truly world class and that is going to allow us to improve the already outstanding levels of patient experience and outcomes that we deliver on a daily basis."

A new dedicated bone cancer centre with inpatient and clinic facilities and a flexible multi-use ward will be incorporated into the building next to the hospital's main entrance.

The new theatre development will link into the existing main theatre suite and will mean that a temporary, modular unit which had been providing the extra surgery facilities can be removed.

Ms Tabernacle said that developers Kier are confident on the new timescale and that staff will work hard to ensure

they can start preparing for the first patients as soon as possible.

She said: "Meanwhile, Kier will then begin on phase two of the project, which will see the existing high dependency unit building and Theatre 7 taken down to make way for a new link bridge which will connect the building to the existing theatres department.

"That should be completed by November 21."