Leicester General Hospital: New surgery unit welcomes first patients

The area where the new unit is based had previously been a car park

A new surgery unit in Leicester is now seeing patients as it aims to tackle big waiting lists.

The East Midlands Planned Care Centre will eventually see 100,000 patients a year from across the region when it fully opens next year.

Based at Leicester General Hospital, NHS bosses hope it will help to bring forward hundreds of less complex procedures, such as keyhole surgery for gall bladders and hernia repairs.

Work began on the site last year.

Currently based on a former car park, the centre is due to expand into the disused Brandon mental health unit in 2024.

The unit will treat patients with less complex gall bladder problems, hernia repairs and other conditions

Janet Needham, from Melton Mowbray, said she was very relieved to have her gall bladder removed at the centre.

"I've never felt pain like it before - I thought between this and childbirth, this is worse," the 65-year-old said.

Across the East Midlands, more than 30,000 people in April had been waiting more than a year to start hospital treatment.

Consultant anaesthetist Vipul Kaushik said additional measures to bring down waiting times give patients a greater peace of mind.

"They read on the internet, and they all know the implications of not getting the procedure done," he said.

"Coming to the point where they are getting the procedure done, and they can go home on the same day, it's very reassuring."

Janet Needham was having her gall bladder removed

Richard Mitchell, chief executive of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said the situation had been improving in recent times, with no patients in the city's hospitals waiting more than two years, down from 600 a year ago.

"Our waiting times are dramatically reducing," he said.