ModuleCo to Provide Ophthalmic Operating Theatre to Singleton Hospital

Swansea Bay University Health Board have partnered with ModuleCo to deliver a new ophthalmic operating theatre suite at Singleton Hospital, helping the Health Board with its ambition for the Hospital to become a centre of excellence for ophthalmology.

The new modular operating theatre marks a key milestone in the Health Board’s ambitious programme called ‘Changing for the Future’, which will promote health services being delivered in an improved and more efficient way.

Set to open in the summer this year, the new theatre will allow the Health Board to carry out around an additional 200 operations every month. Like other areas of Wales, Swansea Bay had extended waiting times for ophthalmology before COVID-19 and the situation has worsened during the pandemic, prompting the need to expand their specialist surgical capacity.

Jan Worthing, Singleton Hospital Director, said: “The reduction in theatre capacity as a result of COVID severely impacted all surgical specialties, but particularly ophthalmology due to the high numbers of patients affected.”

They have approximately 2,500 patients waiting for eye surgery, with around 1,700 of these having waited longer than the 36-week target.

“In addition, there are about 2,100 cataract patients waiting more than 26 weeks to be seen as an outpatient, and around 80 per cent of these are likely to need surgery.”

The Health Board has invested significant recovery funding to support their patients by having surgery at private hospitals.

Their focus now though is to develop additional NHS facilities to reduce the requirement for outsourcing going forward.

The new modular ophthalmic operating theatre will be attached to the existing Day Surgery Unit on the Singleton Hospital site.

It has been designed to facilitate a mobile floor mounted microscope and provides the typical theatre suite accommodation required for ophthalmic day surgery, including:

  • Anaesthetic Room
  • Layup Preparation Room
  • Dirty Utility
  • IPS/UPS

ModuleCo is also providing additional staff and patient supporting accommodation, including an office, store room and WC.

The facility’s construction is already well underway at our factory and will be installed on site in March already up to 90% complete.

Read the Health Board’s press release.