12:40pm Tuesday 30th March 2010
By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter
A hospital is to start carrying out more operations to slash patients’ waiting time.
The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton already carries out around 2,600 emergency operations every year.
This covers patients who are not already booked in for planned surgery apart from those involved in a serious accident or have broken bones.
Patients coming in with life threatening emergencies are dealt with straight away, but the hospital wants to cut down on the number of people who are waiting a day or so to be operated on.
Although the wait does not cause lasting harm, it means the patient's recovery is slower.
After the Easter weekend, extra operating sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays and more are planned for the summer.
In a message to staff, hospital chief executive Duncan Selbie said: “This extra capacity will mean that the patients, who get postponed to accommodate the more urgent cases, can be fast-tracked through theatres and many will be well enough to be discharged the same day.”
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