New flexible hospital centre opens to cut waits

Rachael Briggs said it was "a real proud moment" to see the first patients come through the door

A new outpatient centre which has opened at a hospital in Leicester will deliver about 100,000 appointments a year, NHS bosses have said.

The £40m East Midlands Planned Care Centre (EMPCC) at Leicester General Hospital was opened on Friday in the former Brandon Unit.

Nine specialities are to expand into the hub for elective – non-urgent – procedures at first ranging from general surgery and gastroenterology to bloods and urology.

But the space is designed to be flexible, said University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL), meaning specialities can move in and out of the centre depending on demand.

Rachael Briggs, associate director of operations at UHL, said 650 patients had been through the door this week at the new centre.

"We've started off a little slower than we would usually and it allows the team to build up to get to that 100,000 patients a year when we're fully open," she said.

Ms Briggs said the project had been two and a half years in the making and that a "huge amount of work" had gone into it across the trust, with the EMPCC adding about 7% more planned care capacity across Leicester.

"Our priority with this new facility is reducing waiting times in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland," she added.

"There is opportunity to take patients from wider parts of the region."

Matt Jarvis says the new centre looks "really nice"

Matt Jarvis, from Leicester, said he had been waiting 10 months for treatment after perforating his ear drum.

The 26-year-old said a specialist previously told him that he could not give a time frame on when he would be treated due to the long waiting list.

"I thought it'd be way into next year before I got seen," he said.

"I don't know if it's because [the EMPCC] is open, but I saw the specialist. Within three days, I had an appointment for the surgery and pre-op.

"I'm glad it all sorted for Christmas."

The EMPCC will specialise in procedures including gynaecology, general surgery and urology.