Exeter Nightingale Hospital to help reduce patient waiting lists

The 116-bed hospital will be developed to offer a variety of services of patients

A Nightingale hospital in Devon will be used to help reduce treatment waiting lists in the South West, the NHS says.

Expanded services at the site in Exeter are to include orthopaedic surgery, ophthalmology, rheumatology services, plus MRI and CT scans.

The hospital was built in 2020 to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed by coronavirus patients.

The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust has bought the facility after it was decommissioned in April.

It was due to offer the expanded services from the autumn, health bosses said.

The 116-bed hospital has also been used for diagnostic scans, hosting a Covid-19 vaccine trial and training overseas nurses.

Plans for developing it include providing:

• Two operating theatres for day case and short-stay elective orthopaedic procedures

• A high-volume cataract and diagnostic hub for glaucoma and retina conditions

• A community diagnostic hub to include CT and MRI scanning

• An outpatient rheumatology and infusions centre

Dr Elizabeth Wilkinson, a consultant ophthalmologist at the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, said the pandemic had forced many health trusts to postpone treating patients and "despite our best efforts, our waiting lists have grown".

She said developing services at the Nightingale would "help us to better prioritise the most urgent patients and those who have been waiting the longest".

She added that staff were "delighted that the Nightingale's legacy of outstanding care will now continue".