Just before Christmas we formally opened the second and final stage of our new theatre and surgery complex at Darlington Memorial Hospital. Following the opening of six new state of the art theatres, bereavement suite and mortuary 18 months ago, five of the existing theatres have been fully refurbished to the same standard as the new theatres – bringing the total to 11. In addition, the development has created a new day surgery ward, admissions lounge, recovery bays, consultation rooms, changing facilities, staff room and offices – altogether fantastic, as you can see! The £30m investment has involved lots of hard work from contractors and colleagues alike. The surgery teams also continued delivering their excellent ‘service with a smile’ during the transformation.
We already perform around 10,000 surgical procedures at Darlington each year across a range of specialities. The new areas are designed to ensure they offer patients the best possible journey – from the moment they arrive in the new admissions lounge, to their pre-operative consultation with the surgeon and anaesthetist. The scale of the new complex is breath-taking, creating a sense of calm, even on the busiest of days.