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Waiting room, ward and clinc depictions

First look inside Kent and Canterbury Hospital’s new surgical centre

Published 23 April 2021

Hospital staff have this week had their first look inside a new surgical centre currently being built at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

The Orthopaedic Centre, due to open this summer, contains four brand new operating theatres for patients needing planned inpatient orthopaedic operations, such as hip and knee replacements.

Susan Acott, East Kent Hospitals Chief Executive said: “The new surgical centre is a really exciting investment at the hospital that will help us treat patients sooner.”

Omar Yanni, East Kent Hospitals’ lead doctor for Trauma and Orthopaedics said: “This new unit will help us ensure that every patient gets the highest quality care, is treated in state-of-the-art facilities and in a timely way. We can’t wait to start working here.”

Kylie Brown, Orthopaedic Theatre Coordinator at Kent and Canterbury Hospital said: “It’s incredibly exciting to walk around the new centre, seeing it come to life after months pouring over plans with the build team.

“We thought long and hard about every detail of the experience for our patients and how to make the most of every inch of space. Our patients will have a brilliant new facility and it will be a great place for our staff to work.”

Building a better future for orthopeadic care

Listen to Susan Acott's Podcast about the new surgical with the orthopaedic team

Susan Acott and staff inside the new building
Omar Yanni, Susan Acott, Julia Blackwood and Kylie Brown
Julia Blackwood, General Manager for Trauma and Orthopaedics said: “It’s fantastic to see our successful bid for £14 million NHS investment come to life.

"Having an orthopaedic centre of excellence in east Kent is fantastic for our patients, help us attract more high quality staff and is something that hospitals elsewhere in the country will want to learn from.”

The new surgical centre is part of a national NHS Getting it Right First Time pilot that aims to demonstrate that carrying out planned orthopaedic operations at a separate hospital to emergency operations, benefits both sets of patients. Where these changes have been introduced, both in east Kent and elsewhere, waiting times reduced and fewer operations were cancelled.