A £3.5m redevelopment is underway at St John’s Hospital which will see a new theatre constructed for eye and hand surgery patients.
The theatre will be built within the existing Ward 20 and will support pre and post-operative care for patients.
The reconfiguration of the existing ward will create a new day surgery unit with two theatres and will improve access for patients requiring hand trauma surgery, hand elective surgery, and ophthalmology surgery.
Aris Tyrothoulakis, interim site director at St John’s Hospital, said: “I’m delighted this refurbishment has begun.
The new day surgery unit will provide additional capacity allowing us to treat more people more quickly by increasing the number of ophthalmology and hand operations at St John’s.
“At the moment, patients waiting for hand trauma surgery can sometimes be admitted for an overnight stay and this refurbishment will provide additional capacity, reducing the need for these stays.
“The investment shows our ongoing commitment to the hospital and the £3.5m refurbishment will vastly improve access for patients to these services.”
St John’s Hospital is home to the regional hand trauma unit and is the referral and treatment centre for patients throughout Lothian.
The project is being delivered in partnership with NHS Lothian’s appointed contractor, RMF Health, which is a consortium bringing together two of Scotland’s largest construction and building services contractors: Robertson and FES.
Anna Daley, RMF health framework manager, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with NHS Lothian on the exciting redevelopment of Ward 20.
This significant refurbishment will make a real difference to the eye and hand surgery services that are available.”
The redevelopment to Ward 20 is one development in a larger programme of works planned for St John’s Hospital over the coming years.
Through capital investments and revenue funding, more than £30 million has been invested into services in recent years in order to increase capacity and improve patient care.
Investments have included the £7m short-stay elective surgery centre, a £3.7m endoscopy unit, and a £3m upgrade of the labour ward and special care baby unit.
Works are scheduled for completion in June.
