Staff at Wrightington Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will celebrate 20 years of tender loving care at the Thomas Linacre Centre this week.
Costing just over £7m at the time, WWL opened the Thomas Linacre Centre to WWL’s outpatients on 20th May 2002, in the former Wigan Grammar School building following extensive renovation, and was the first acute Trust to move acute outpatients off site from the main Wigan Infirmary location.
Now home to 12 different areas, including antenatal, breast screening, paediatrics, audiology, ear, nose and throat (ENT), medical photography and diagnostics such as cardiology, phlebotomy and radiology, the Thomas Linacre Centre has 96 Consultant led clinics per week and treats over 100,000 patients from across the Wigan Borough every year.
Already in 2022, over 31,800 patient appointments have been held either face-to-face, over the telephone or via video conferencing and 2,680 blood tests are carried out per week.
During the week of celebrations, members from WWL’s Executive Board visited the various departments and areas at the Thomas Linacre Centre, that was rated ‘Outstanding’ at its last inspection by the Care Quality Commission.
On his visit, WWL CEO, Silas Nicholls paid tribute to staff.
He said: “What our staff do at the Thomas Linacre Centre is really special and we’re really proud of everybody here. There is a real sense of pride and a welcoming nature that really stands out and that is thanks to our fantastic staff. We receive such great feedback from the patients who attend the centre and I would like to congratulate everybody on a wonderful 20 years.”
Helen Flowers, Sister in charge of the Thomas Linacre Centre, added: “I’ve been here since the very beginning and we’re very much a family at the TLC. It has been an amazing 20 years and we’re just going to keep going from strength to strength.”