Chorley hospital's new Opthalmology unit nominated for award ahead of December opening

The Health Service Journal has shortlisted the department in the Clinical Governance and Risk Management in Patient Safety Award category.

The staff are set to find out if they’ve won the award at a ceremony on September 20.

The Department of Health granted £17,500,000 to fund a building and now it is only a few months away from completion. The Lancashire Post was treated to a guided tour around the new facilities.

While the medical equipment is yet to be installed, lots of progressions have been taking place since work began in July 2020, with staff expected to start treating people in the fresh facility on December 1.

Consultant Ophthalmologist Shveta Bansal said: “I’m very excited and thrilled to see this new facility. This is something we’ve been hoping for, praying for, and working towards for the last four years, if not more, so this is a fantastic story for us.

“It will massively improve the patient experience, which is what we wanted first and foremost. The sheer size of the unit, the flow, and the way it has been designed is very much centred on the patient having a good experience.

“We’ve improved the efficiency of the patient journey. At present, the journey we have through the hospital at Preston is fragmented and old. It’s not conducive to an efficient journey at all. I think patients will certainly find the benefit and I think staff will enjoy treating patients here.

“From where we’ve come to where we are now, it’s an amazing story to be even considered for an award. The true success will be when we’ve moved in and demonstrated that we’ve improved patient care. That for me is the ultimate success, but it’s absolutely fantastic that we’ve even been considered for an award.”

The building has three floors and will be able to deal with an increased number of patients in comparison with the current Ophthalmology unit.

The Ophthalmology department deals with the highest quantity of patients out of any section of the hospital and employs roughly 90 staff, including 13 Consultants.

The new unit has been designed with the patient experience at the forefront. The various segments of the building will be colour-coded to help patients get to grips with the layout easier, especially those who are visually impaired and struggle to read signs.

Photography of Lancashire will be dotted around the interior walls to make patients’ stays more engaging and familiar.

Karen Partington, chief executive at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said “We are really pleased to be able to provide this additional facility which will help us to improve patient experience and will give our patients a choice of location and access to state-of-the-art facilities.

"The unit will include a dedicated outpatient and diagnostic space as well as three additional theatres to provide extra capacity for patients requiring a variety of day case procedures."