£50m surgery hubs booster

NHS England bosses have unveiled the cash injection for Salford Royal Hospital, the hub for operations requiring intensive care in Wigan, Salford and Bolton.

Supporters of the move say the hubs - there are three others in Manchester, Stockport and Oldham - could save 300 lives per year.

The likes of Wrightington Hospital, near Wigan, have been identified as specialist sites for orthopaedic surgery.

Jon Rouse, chief officer for Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, has welcomed the funding announcement for the hubs, unveiled at a meeting of the King’s Fund in London.

He said: “This investment will enable us to make significant improvements in the quality of care for people needing general and high-risk surgery as well those admitted to hospital as an emergency.

“Patients across Greater Manchester will also benefit from this funding through the development of a new facility at Salford Royal Hospital to increase capacity for major trauma services, ensuring we can meet the needs of our population for decades to come.”

Further funding has been found for a new cancer centre in Carlisle and an ‘urgent care village’ at the Royal Derby Hospital.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “This funding will support strong local plans to help the NHS modernise and transform care for patients.

“A measure of success of these transformation partnerships is that people can see and feel improvements being made in their local area – there are already excellent examples of this across the country and this money will allow them to go further and faster.”

The Greater Manchester project is part of a £325m spending round which has been unveiled before the parliamentary recess.

Simon Stevens, the NHS England chief executive, added: “This is the first down-payment of much-needed investment in modern equipment and NHS facilities, with more promised in the autumn and beyond.”