Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) welcomed Shaun Wane, England Rugby League’s Head Coach, to officially open two new theatres at Wrightington Hospital.
The new state-of-the-art, ultra-clean theatres are part of an upgrade of the Trust’s theatre stock at the Wrightington Hospital site, leading to improved productivity and helping WWL’s capacity to reduce waiting lists for patients awaiting orthopaedic surgery.
Local hero, Shaun Wane, who was invited to unveil a ceremonial plaque, said: “It is a real pleasure to be invited here to open these new theatres. I’ve been treated at Wrightington Hospital more times than I care to remember but what I do remember was the care I received while I’ve been here, it was impeccable. These theatres are going to change lives, and for us to have this on our doorstep, it makes me so proud as someone from Wigan, that people travel from around the world to be treated here at this world class hospital. Well done and congratulations to everyone involved in getting these theatres up and running.”
Wrightington Hospital was also recently re-accredited with Surgical Hub status, establishing WWL as the North West’s (NW) Centre for orthopaedic excellence. Intended to deliver high-volume, low-complexity procedures, the new Theatres 11 and 12 have been designed specifically to focus on soft tissue knee surgery and low complexity joint replacements. The theatres were built using Trust capital funds and, following a successful bid for £6.1m of funding through NHS England’s Targeted Investment Fund (TIF), a national programme designed to increase NHS elective and diagnostic capacity in response to the rising elective backlogs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richard Mundon, Deputy Chief Executive of WWL, opened the event, saying: “Wrightington Hospital is a special place, it is the birthplace of the hip replacement and where the first ‘clean air’ theatre was invented. Procedures that are now commonplace across the NHS and, indeed, the world, started right here and our two new theatres build on that history, while providing brand new, state-of-the-art care and facilities. It has been a monumental effort to get us to this point and we’re proud of Wrightington Hospital being a centre of excellence for orthopaedics, which cements our position as a surgical hub for Greater Manchester and allows us to provide top class care to both those who live locally and from further afield.”
Also in attendance at the event was Ashley Dalton, MP for West Lancashire, who commented: “It’s brilliant to be able to see this development come to fruition, it is going to change people’s lives and give them the opportunity to get back to what they love doing. We talk a lot about bringing the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS, and I’m so proud as the local MP that some of the best of the NHS is right here in West Lancashire.”
By working closely with other Trusts across Greater Manchester (GM), WWL is able to offer mutual aid for patients who have long waits in other organisations, due to the technical expertise and excellent resources available at Wrightington Hospital. WWL can also treat patients including, but not limited to, Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside and wider afield, with more than 40% of patient activity coming from outside of the Wigan Borough. The site also supports orthopaedic care in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and the Falkland Islands.