A NEW £1.5million hospital facility will help more planned surgery to be performed.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) has officially opened the 46-bed Lancashire Elective Centre at Burnley General Teaching Hospital, part of ELHT’s £18m investment into NHS services there.

The new facility will allow for 14 overnight stay patients; will feature two dedicated elective operating theatres including a state of the art laparoscopic theatre; a purpose-built room equipped to perform minor procedures; infusion suite caring for patients requiring all types of IV treatment and an easy access DVT clinic supporting patient flow from A&E and urgent care as well as direct referral from GPs.

The Worshipful the Mayor and the Mayoress of Burnley, Councillor Howard Baker and Ms Tracey Rhodes were joined by the Elective Centre’s first patient, Mrs Rokiya Laher, to officially open new Centre which has the capacity to treat in excess of 12,000 patients per annum.

Kevin McGee, Chief Executive at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust: “The innovative Lancashire Elective Centre represents a substantial investment in facilities at Burnley General Teaching Hospital.

“It means the Trust now has extra capacity to perform more planned surgery, there will be fewer cancellations and we can meet the increased demand for short stay surgery and minor procedures in East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen.”

“I want to especially thank all the staff who have worked tirelessly while all the reconstruction and refurbishments were carried out. They have ensured patients have continued to receive safe, personal and effective care and treatment.”

Director of Operations, John Bannister, said: “Demand for the type of procedures and treatments being carried out at the Lancashire Elective Centre is expected to continue to increase significantly in the coming years.

“We’re delighted that the new facility is already extremely well-used, including the state-of-the-art procedure room, which is purpose-built for minor treatments.

“By developing this unit we have been able to provide additional capacity for East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen patients who may need an overnight stay or just a little extra time to recover from a procedure.”