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| Miss
Goldilocks and colleagues pictured between sessions in the new
seventh operating theatre recently completed at the Royal Sussex
County Hospital. |
WHILE
the trust, like most other acute trusts in the south east, has struggled
meet its expenditure target for running services this year, there is
brighter news.
A massive investment in
capital works and major equipment is bringing enormous benefits to both
patients and staff.
Some of this work is highly
visible – the new education centre in Brighton and the start of work
on the treatment centre at the Princess Royal Hospital, for example. But
a great deal more is going on behind the scene, such as the recently
completed sterile services upgrading at Haywards Heath and the
continuing work on operating theatres at the Royal Sussex County.
Work on the £11.75 million
scheme at RSCH to bring modern standard theatres for modern-day surgery
began in 2002. The scheme was devised to refurbish the hospital’s main
theatres and ancillary areas and in addition to provide a new seventh
theatre.
Theatres 1, 2 and 6 were
refurbished and brought into use towards the end of 2002.
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| Mercedes
Coldham unloading instrument trays through the hatch of the
clean room into the sterilising room in the new-look sterile
services department at the Princess Royal Hospital. |
The next phase got under way
in September 2003 has recently been completed. This included fully
refurbishing theatre 3 and providing a complexly new theatre 7. Now only
two theatres, 4and 5 remain to be upgraded.
Before that work begins,
towards the end of the project planned for later this year, work gets
underway on Level 4 where a new patient reception area, new entrance
lobby, porters’ lodge, offices, teaching, training and on-call rooms
are being provided.
The theatres in the Thomas
Kemp Tower were built nearly 40 years ago as part of the original,
uncompleted redevelopment of the hospital. Bringing them up to
present-day standards while continuing to maintain uninterrupted
services has put enormous pressure on staff.
The way that they and the contractors have
responded to the difficult working conditions is described here.
