NEARLY £1-million has been invested in Tavistock Hospital to provide a major revamp of its operating theatre.

The hospital’s theatre unit, which was last refurbished in the early 1990s, was completely gutted and redesigned with the input of the theatre staff to maximise patient flow, increase ease of cleaning and most importantly upgrade the air handling unit.

The refurbishment also means the theatre can accommodate up to 2,000 day case patients a year — around 500 more than before, with the potential for more.

The £900,000 project saw the revamp and reorganisation of the operating theatre, scrub area, preparation rooms, anaesthetic room and recovery room, which are now at the same specifications as the theatres at Derriford Hospital. It also saw the installation of the new air handling unit which enables 25 air exchanges an hour throughout the theatre.

The building work started back in August and while the theatre was closed, the dozen theatre staff were given the opportunity to work at Derriford Hospital to learn new skills and create new contacts. The contractors finished the job just before Christmas and the first patients were booked in on January 3.

Tavistock Hospital is run by Live Well South West and works in partnership with Derriford Hospital. Derriford provides surgeons and anaesthetists who come to Tavistock Hospital, where there are nurses and staff to help carry out day case procedures.

Matron Trish Cooper said: ‘This is a major investment for a community hospital especially when times are hard, so we are really pleased. We anticipate that we will now be able to operate on up to 2,000 patients a year — that’s 2,000 people who otherwise would have to have gone to Derriford and roughly 500 more patients than we were seeing before.

‘All our staff had regular meetings about the design of the theatre and how it should look. It was completely gutted so that it was just a shell and completely redesigned. It has been designed so that the flow of patients through the rooms is quicker, everything is easy to clean and there are no corners. It is a really brilliant investment for Tavistock.’

Scrub nurse Jenny Base said: ‘We had a really enjoyable time while we were at Derriford but there’s no place like home. We were given an opportunity that we wouldn’t have had in Tavistock and were able to make lots of contacts so it was useful in a lot of ways, but we’re very happy to be back.

‘I was completely gobsmacked by the new look. I didn’t come in while any of the work was being done so when I saw it for the first time I was astounded by how things had changed and how professional and slick it looked. We’ve really moved into the 21st century.‘

Dawn Hodgkiss, theatre healthcare assistant, said: ‘Before, the theatre had just evolved since the 1990s with bits added and taken away. What we had was ok but now it is a completely clean slate and it looks great.’

The theatre currently specialises in dermatology, plastics, orthopaedics, general surgery, urology, colorectal and minor operations but with the refurb the theatre will be able to take on more specialities if needed. It is also now able to offer pre-op assessments.

Steve Waite, chief executive at Livewell Southwest, said: ‘The new theatre suite at Tavistock Hospital will make a huge difference to people in the communities we serve, giving them the opportunity to have their surgery closer to home in a high quality, professional yet relaxed atmosphere.

‘Having recently been rated as “good” by the Care Quality Commission, our aim is to be an outstanding provider in all areas of care we deliver and this significant investment to equip Tavistock Hospital with the state-of-the-art theatre it deserves is just one part of achieving that vision.’

Kevin Baber, director of strategic develop-ment at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ‘It’s great news to have the theatre open at Tavistock again.

‘It allows us to treat some patients more locally but also gives us additional operating capacity at a really important time.’

Dr Paul Hardy, Plymouth GP and chair of NHS NEW Devon CCG Western Locality, said: ‘The opening of the redesigned theatre suite at Tavistock Hospital is really good news for the people in this part of Devon, offering first-class services for more patients locally.

‘Joint investment by the CCG with Livewell Southwest to take this forward is a great example of organisations working together to benefit our patients.’