More patients will be able to have treatment for eye conditions at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital after a £550,000 redevelopment of the ophthalmology unit.
The Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane, Councillor David Leeks, officially reopened the facility at Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust on Friday, August 12. Cllr Leeks was joined byhospital staff and Trust chairman Elizabeth Padmore, chief executive Mary Edwards, and director of nursing Donna Green.
Mayor Leeks said: “The new unit is excellent; it looks very modern and seems very user-friendly. I’m sure that all the patients will find it extremely beneficial."
The £550,000 redevelopment took four months to complete and will enable the department to treat more patients for a wider range of conditions. The unit currently treats more than 500 patients each month in various clinics including eye surgery, minor operations, laser and follow-up clinics.Kathy Barton, general manager of ophthalmology, said: “Our patients have been thrilled with the new unit. It provides more space and a brighter environment, helping to relax those patients who may be nervous about any treatment they are having. Expanding the unit has meant that we will now have the capacity to develop new services as well as provide our current high standard of clinical care.”
The refurbishment included the addition of new treatment and consultation rooms, a dedicated biometry room, and the upgrading of the minor operation and laser rooms. There is now a separate pre-operation waiting and post-operation recovery area away from the waiting rooms, so that patients who have undergone eye surgery can recover in private.
Funds for the refurbishment were generated by the financial surplus generated by the Financial Trust last year. The refurbishment follows the installation earlier this year of a state-of-the-art Siemens Aera 1.5 Tesla Magnet MRI Scanner.
The new scanner was installed during January and, after completing building work and testing of the scanner, was up and running in February. The NHS Foundation Trust is in the process of taking over Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust (WEHCT) following a lengthy due diligence process.
The facilities are expected to merge early next your, with WEHCT ceasing to exist. However, the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester will continue to provide some services, including an A&E department, intensive care, gynaecology, blood testing and X-rays.
