Royal Bolton Hospital: Extended operating theatre planned

The plans, put before Bolton Council, will see a new modular theatre complex built at the Minerva Street hospital, which could prove crucial to addressing the backlog of cases in the borough.

Medics at Royal Bolton have already been working to reduce the number of people waiting for treatment but with demand having outstripped capacity even before the pandemic, trust managers more needs to be done.

Chief operating officer Rae Wheatcroft said: “We are always looking for ways to further improve the services we provide for our patients, and the speed in which people can access them.

“Thanks to the incredible hard work of our staff, all people who have been waiting two years or more for their surgery have now been treated, and increasing the capacity of our theatres will help to further drive down our waiting lists.”

How the new complex could look from a bird's eye view

The proposed new modular theatre will connect the hospital’s existing urology block to the operating theatres already in place and will be built on part of the Nicholson car park.

The building will include operating theatres, recovery space, staff changing facilities, storage facilities and a plant room.

An artist's impression of the new complex

As well as providing extra spaces, this will allow the hospital to refurbish its existing theatres so that they are capable of hosting medical operations for 52 days a week rather than just 48 as they do currently.

Recent progress made on tackling the backlog of cases has seen the number of people waiting two years for treatment fall from 174 in March this year to none, while just 150 patients are now waiting 18 months for an operation compared to 850 last October.

The plans have been put before Bolton Council

But there were still 1,069 people waiting more than 52 weeks for surgery as of a Bolton NHS Foundation Trust statement issued in July, demonstrating the need for an expansion.

The council will decide on the plans later this year.