Priti Patel MP welcomes new elective care centre at Colchester Hospital
Priti Patel, Member of Parliament for Witham, has welcomed the announcement that a new elective care centre for patients requiring planned orthopaedic surgery is to be built at Colchester Hospital.
The Governing Bodies of NHS North East Essex and NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) met today (14.07.2020) and agreed to proposals from East Suffolk and North East Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) for the new £44 million centre to be based at Colchester Hospital. The new centre is expected to open in 2024/25 and will treat orthopaedic patients from both Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals.
Priti, who made representations to the Chief Executive at ESNEFT for Colchester Hospital to be chosen as the preferred site for the new centre, said:
“This will be welcome news for my constituents, especially as there is no hospital or significant outpatient service in my constituency and they would have had to travel even further to access vital orthopaedic services if the centre had been based in Ipswich. I lobbied ESNEFT for the centre to be at Colchester Hospital and I am delighted that they have listened to my representations.
“This significant investment will improve access and outcomes for patients locally and I will continue to champion investment in our local health services to upgrade patient pathways, improve services, reduce waiting times and deliver better experiences for patients in my constituency.”