MTX Colchester BBC News blog

The state-of-the-art Elective Orthopaedic Surgery Centre being built at Colchester Hospital by modern methods of construction specialist MTX features in a TV news report by BBC East Health Correspondent Nikki Fox.

She toured the new facility which is scheduled to open later this year and spoke to the new unit’s Clinical Director Andrew Dunn, and members of a patient group that has helped to design the new surgery centre.

The new Elective Orthopaedic Centre will be one of the largest in Europe with eight new orthopaedic operating theatres and up to seventy-one beds, a reception area, and ancillary facilities.

The three-storey 8,283sq m building is the largest healthcare development of its kind built in the UK using modern methods of construction. A total of 293 structural steel units were manufactured in a factory to construct the building, with one of the largest cranes in the UK used to lift the final structural units into position.

Modern methods of construction ensure that the new state of the art surgical hub is delivered more quickly and cost effectively than using conventional building methods, with less environmental impact and greater safety. That means a quicker return on investment for the health trust and more rapid treatment for patients.

According to data from NHS England, the largest single waiting list is for trauma and orthopaedics. This centre will ring-fence beds for operations like hip and knee replacements.

Clinical director Andrew Dunn told the BBC that it’s hoped the number of orthopaedic operations could rise from 4,500 to up to 10,500 a year.

Read the BBC blog here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67763084