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Morval Parish Council
Views over the parish of Morval Parish

Full News Report

31st January 2025

More minor ops in community are on the cards

CORNWALL’s new elective surgical hub has opened at St Austell Community Hospital and is already helping to deliver more care closer to home.

The £15-million modular building has two operating theatres, four recovery bays and six pre-op assessment rooms, as well as a reception and waiting areas. Having seen more than 500 patients since last October’s ribbon-cutting, it is already easing waiting lists across Cornwall.

The team aim to deliver around 5,000 day surgery procedures a year, including ophthalmology and gynaecology.

Meanwhile, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust has welcomed the Labour Government’s announcement that the new emergency care building at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, can now proceed at pace.

The state-of-the-art facility will replace the Trust’s current Emergency Department – which is regarded as no longer being fit for purpose – by creating a modern healthcare environment.

It come at the same time as the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has been buoyed by the news that the new Women and Children’s Hospital can go ahead as originally planned.

It means that the Cardiac Department relocation project (from the Link Corridor into Trelawny Wing) and the Critical Electrical Infrastructure scheme (which will ensure electrical resilience on the Truro site until at least 2050) can now proceed immediately.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has also published a report on urgent and emergency care and medical care (including older people’s care) at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust following an inspection last May and July.

The actual rating for ‘Urgent and emergency care’ remains unchanged but has been re-rated as ‘Requiring improvement’. 

‘Caring and well-led’ have also been re-rated as ‘Good’ while ‘Safe’ has improved from ‘Requires improvement’ to ‘Good’.

However, because of the focused nature of the inspection for medical care, the service was not rated and retains its previous rating of ‘Requires improvement overall’.