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The hospital currently has six theatres, but the new plans will add another three. Advertisement
The planned new theatres are modular in design so they can be erected quickly and less expensively than traditional builds. The Board is being asked to approve the plans at its next meeting later today (Thursday 26 May).
The theatres will be the latest in a number of additional modular theatres being introduced to Swansea Bay hospitals.
Neath Port Talbot Hospital is having three new theatres to enable it to become the £25m Centre of Excellence for Orthopaedics.
The Day Surgery Unit (on a site opposite the main Singleton Hospital building) is also having an additional theatre.
The exiting six theatres at Singleton undertake procedures for gynaecology; ophthalmology; colorectal; general surgery; planned obstetric cases; breast surgery, orthopaedics and some plastic surgery.Advertisement
The three planned new theatres will provide additional activity for plastic surgery; general surgery, Ear, Nose and Throat, and oral maxillofacial surgery. Singleton Hospital (Image: Swansea Bay NHS)
These three additional theatres at Singleton are expected to undertake an extra 2,190 operations a year.
The health board say that key to this work will be the introduction of a new four-bedded Post Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU) at Singleton which will allow surgery to go ahead that could only have taken place in Morriston previously.
If the plans for the additional theatres are approved by the Board, the work is likely to be commissioned in 2023/2024.
Swansea Bay UHB Chief Executive, Mark Hackett, said: “We are only too aware of the pain and discomfort being endured by people on our lists who are waiting too long for the treatments they need.
“We are doing all we can to increase capacity to tackle these long lists.Advertisement
“Expanding our operating theatres at Singleton and Neath Port Talbot will be important steps forward.
“This is in line with our strategic Changing for the Future plans to improve both unscheduled and planned care, and develop each of our three main hospitals as centres of excellence.”
The future plans mean that Morriston Hospital will become a centre of excellence for urgent and emergency care, specialist care and regional surgical services for Swansea Bay, including complex medical interventions.
Singleton Hospital will become a centre of excellence for planned care, cancer care and diagnostics.
Neath Port Talbot Hospital will become a centre of excellence for orthopaedic and spinal care, diagnostics, rehabilitation and rheumatology.Advertisement
The health board say that by concentrating different skills, resources and specialisms on each site, each hospital will become a ‘powerhouse’ for these services, providing specialist treatments to a higher standard.
(Lead image: Swansea Bay NHS) Share this:TweetWhatsApp Email
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In the wake of the two-year+ pandemic, pressure on waiting lists is higher than ever. Changes to how Swansea Bay University Health Board delivers services; and investment in staff and equipment, are aimed at bringing those waits down the health board says. Advertisement
One of the key investments is focused on expanding enhanced post-operative care facilities, which offer a step up from general ward care for patients who need extra support immediately after their operation.
This includes offering patients advanced pain relief, blood pressure monitoring and oxygen support in the immediate 24-48 hour post-operative period.
These facilities and services are not as intensive as high dependency or intensive care units. However, this additional layer of care will offer Swansea Bay hospitals greater flexibility over where that surgery can be carried out.
Opening these services in Singleton and Neath Port Talbot hospitals mean they will soon be able to offer a wider range of certain surgeries which are currently only carried out in Morriston Hospital.
Pankaj Kumar, Deputy Group Medical Director, Morriston Hospital and the project lead said: “In providing these enhanced post-operative care facilities, the health board is providing right-sized, fit for purpose, post-operative care that is responsive to every patients’ needs and is efficient in its delivery of care.Advertisement
“It will lead to improved patient care and better clinical outcomes for patients, and will also reduce the time they spend in hospital.”
The health board says that expanding these services will also ease the pressure on critical care units located on the Morriston site, and reduce the risk of a scheduled operation being cancelled at the last minute because an emergency patient needed the bed.
Singleton Hospital, which already carries out some complex surgery, will benefit from four enhanced post-operative recovery beds to begin with (eventual plan is for six beds) offering the enhanced post-operative recovery facilities particularly for colorectal and gynaecology patients.
Neath Port Talbot’s plan to become the Orthopaedic Centre of Excellence will be supported by enhanced recovery unit beds being introduced in phase two, with the commissioning of three beds. This development will also help urology surgical patients.
Morriston Hospital already has advanced post-operative care beds as part of post-anaesthetic care unit services to complement its higher level of critical care beds.Advertisement
The well-being project is partly funded by the Bay Health Cluster, which is made up of eight GP practices spread across the Sketty, Uplands, Mumbles and Gower areas, as it aims to tackle social isolation among adults. Advertisement
Based at Linden Church in West Cross, the weekly drop-ins are run by Red Community Project, an organisation which aims to bring people together and help build good relationships.
Each person is offered a cooked breakfast and is encouraged to get to know those around them.
Rachel Matthews, from Red Community Project, said: “We are hoping to make Linden Church a well-being hub in the area.
“Every Wednesday we have a free breakfast club with a cooked breakfast and our target group is people who are lonely.
“It is one of the target issues in West Cross as it’s an area with no Men’s Shed or anything for men, in particular, with mental health issues.Advertisement
“We have had a mixture of people come so far. We’ve even had the police attend, as well as the local postman, so it’s definitely got a community feel to it.
“We are hoping to build up a safe place for people to come and we hope it is going to grow.” Anyone living in the nearby area is welcome to attend the weekly drop-ins, whether they feel lonely or not.
One person who has enjoyed going along is Vance Horn.
He said: “I think it’s a great project because it gives me a break from my flat and gives me time to be with other people.
“I have been coming along since the start.Advertisement
“The food here is really nice and the staff are brilliant. They are very generous in giving up their free time.”
While Jeremy Breem added: “I come here for breakfast every Wednesday and I’ve met some nice people through it.
“It helps to get you out of the house and seeing people, which I think is great.”
John Bennett is just one of the multiple volunteers who give up their time to cook, chat and clean up at the weekly meet-up.
Red Community Project also oversees the local food bank in Mumbles, with many of those volunteers lending a hand at the breakfast club too.Advertisement
“It’s nice to be able to give something back to people,” Mr Bennett said.
“Some of the people here may not see anybody again or talk to anybody again for the rest of the day.
“At least here they can come and have something to eat or have a chat and hopefully it makes them feel a bit better.
“They must feel like it’s something nice to come to as we have offers of help from them to do the dishes afterwards, so it’s nice they want to give something back to us as well.
“You definitely get something out of helping other people.”Advertisement
Bay Health Cluster lead, Dr Nicola Jones, said: “We are delighted to be able to help support the West Cross Well-being Project.
“It is providing a much-needed space to allow the local population to re-establish those vital connections to each other which we all missed out on during the Covid-19 pandemic, and which are vital for maintaining a healthy, thriving community.”
Lead image: Dan Evans, Barbara Matthews and Rachel Matthews of Red Community Project (Image: Swansea Bay NHS) Share this:TweetWhatsApp Email
Aled Williams underwent a five-hour operation at Morriston Hospital in November 2019 after an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was detected. Advertisement
Less than three years later he was back at the hospital but for a much happier reason – to present a cheque for £1,000, which will be put towards training surgeons of the future.
An AAA is a bulge or swelling in the aorta – the main blood vessel that runs from the heart down through the chest and abdomen.
It can be dangerous if not detected early. It can get bigger over time and there is a risk it will burst, causing life-threatening bleeding.
AAAs do not usually cause any obvious symptoms, and are often only picked up during screening or tests carried out for another reason.
That was the case with Mr Williams, who was asymptomatic and whose diagnosis came purely by chance.Advertisement
He said: “The process began when I read a newspaper article regarding an AAA Screening Programme which was being run by Public Health Wales for men of 65-plus.
“I took the initiative, rang the office in Swansea and was immediately offered an ultrasound scan at my local surgery in Lampeter, where a medium-sized AAA was detected.
“The monitoring of my condition then continued on a three-monthly basis for the ensuing three years or so, until the aneurysm had developed into a large one in August 2019.
“I was then strongly advised to undergo an operation to remedy the situation.”
Those at a higher risk of getting an AAA include all men aged 65 with conditions such as high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high cholesterol, a family history of AAA, cardiovascular disease, stroke or if they smoke or have previously smoked.Advertisement Aled Williams (right) was joined throughout the cycle challenge by his daughter Lois and son Rhun (Image: Swansea Bay NHS)
The screening programme has been running in Wales since 2013. All men in the year of their 65th birthday are invited for an ultrasound scan to detect if there is an AAA present.
How an AAA is managed depends on its size; an annual scan if it’s small and a three-monthly scan if it’s medium.
However, once the AAA reaches a certain size, surgery is recommended to stop it getting bigger or bursting with potentially life-threatening consequences.
Following successful surgery, which was carried out by Morriston’s vascular surgery team, Mr Williams spent nine days recovering in hospital before returning home.
Then he set his sights on showing his appreciation for the treatment he received.
The keen cyclist got into gear and on his bike as he looked to raise money for the vascular department by completing 100km (62 miles) over four days.Advertisement
Accompanied by his children Lois and Rhun, their route started in Llanelli’s Millennium Coastal Path and headed along the Carmarthenshire coast, covering Burry Port and Kidwelly.
Their efforts paid off, with their initial target of £500 easily surpassed.
“I decided to acknowledge in some small way the life-saving treatment, together with a wide range of tests and consultations pre-operation, which I had received so swiftly from the NHS,” said Mr Williams, who served Llanelli, Boncath, Llanddewibrefi, Lampeter, St David’s during his time as reverend.
“I hit on the idea of the cycle ride as a means of giving something back to those who had given me so much. The path was perfect and not so taxing for a man in his early 70s! Aled Williams presents consultant Kamran Mohiuddin with a cheque for Morriston Hospital’s vascular surgery department (Image: Swansea Bay NHS)
“We were delighted to have raised £1,000 and I must acknowledge the generosity of everyone who donated.”
Since completing his cycle challenge, Mr Williams has returned to Morriston Hospital. This time, however, it was in far different circumstances.Advertisement
With cheque in hand, he presented Kamran Mohiuddin, the consultant who performed his surgery, with the £1,000 donation.
“The generous donation has been deposited in the Vascular Surgery Fund at Morriston,” said Mr Mohiuddin.
“This will be used to help train future vascular surgeons.
“It is always a good feeling to see patients do well. It was a pleasant surprise to see Mr Williams a few years after the surgery.
“We are very grateful for the fundraising that Mr Williams and his family has done for the vascular surgery department.”Advertisement
Following his visit, Mr Williams added: “I shall forever owe Mr Mohiuddin a debt of gratitude. Also the standard of care at the vascular department was second to none.
“One hears so much negativity about the health service, belying the fact that many good things do happen.
“I can honestly say that my experience throughout the process was excellent from beginning to end.
“I have the utmost respect for Mr Mohiuddin, and not only on account of his professional skill and expertise.
“From our first meeting, he displayed a calm and compassionate attitude, while explaining in detail every aspect of my condition and the various steps of the treatment required.Advertisement
“Despite the obvious seriousness of the process, he was able to instil confidence in one such as myself, whose experience of hospitals and major operations was virtually non-existent.
“Their expertise mean I have regained my strength and feel as vibrant as I did pre-surgery.”
(Lead image: Swansea Bay NHS) Share this:TweetWhatsApp Email
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