AFTER a 12 month stay, the large Vanguard mobile operating theatre at Wharfedale Hospital is leaving the site on Sunday (December 17), with potential for some minor delays as the lorry driver negotiates the tight streets of Otley town centre.

The move through the town begins from 8am on the Sunday, under police escort.

Disruption to people getting into the hospital car park – for example if they need to access the Minor Injury Unit – will be limited to a matter of minutes.

The Vanguard Theatre was introduced to reduce the time patients wait for surgery and therefore help to reduce the elective operation backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been used for procedures across a mixture of specialities – urology, plastics, maxillofacial, colorectal, breast and vascular.

The theatre is being removed because construction work is now underway at the hospital to create a new £10m Elective Care Hub. This includes two new operating theatres, a recovery area, admissions and discharge area. The investment from Leeds Teaching Hospitals is within the existing building footprint of the hospital and is aimed at reducing waiting times and protecting space for planned operations to take place. It is expected to open in October 2024.

The Elective Care Hub will provide space for operations including cancer procedures, urology and benign gynaecology. These are operations where a post-operative stay is required. As part of the development there will be some other changes at Wharfedale Hospital with the day unit and phlebotomy services moving into refurbished areas and a dedicated a hysteroscopy treatment suite. Overall, the clinical footprint of the site will increase.

Rob Armstrong, Associate Director of Operations at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Over the past year The Vanguard Theatre has provided much-needed support in our efforts to reduce our waiting lists for patients waiting for planned operations. It’s been a really positive experience working with the Vanguard team to be able to provide a professional facility which has been just like any other modern operating theatre.

“We appreciate that the removal of the theatre will cause some very short-term disruption through town. We are aiming to keep this to an absolute minimum. Thank you to everyone for your understanding.”

Work to ready the theatre for transportation began on Monday (December 11), and it will be uploaded onto a lorry on Saturday (December 16) ready for the next morning.

Further works on the site and collection of two support units will take place from December 18-20. Following this, from Thursday, January 4 to Friday, January 12, the lobby at the hospital’s north entrance will be closed to allow for demolition works.

Simon Squirrell, UK Business Director, Vanguard Healthcare Solutions, added: “It’s a pleasure to have been able to help Leeds Teaching Hospitals provide continuous, high quality care to its patients with one of our mobile operating theatres which continue to support many other Trusts and Health Boards in tackling waiting lists across the UK.”