New operating theatre to open at Orpington Hospital

19 January 2022 - Hundreds more operations will be carried out each year

A new state-of-the-art operating theatre is being installed at Orpington Hospital to enable hundreds of additional operations to take place each year.

The operating theatre and recovery suite, which is due to open in early 2022, is earmarked primarily for orthopaedic procedures. The new facility will help reduce waiting times for people who require knee and hip replacement surgery, and other procedures.

The new one-storey operating theatre will also contain three patient recovery bays, as well as staff changing facilities. The floorplan is specifically designed to keep noise transfer from corridors and other rooms to a minimum, reducing disturbance during patient recovery. Over the next few weeks, the operating theatre will be fitted out with the latest equipment.

The building is a modular construction, which is more sustainable and is better for the environment. The steel used has at least 25 per cent recycled content and as the parts were built in an off-site factory – before being delivered and fitted together at the hospital – 90 per cent of the waste produced was also able to be recycled.

Jonathan Lofthouse, Site Chief Executive, said, “The additional operating theatre is a fantastic addition to our services at Orpington Hospital. It will help us tackle waiting lists that have grown during the COVID-19 pandemic so that patients receive the timely care they deserve.
“The additional theatre capacity will benefit people living locally, as well as those living across South East London, who may be referred to Orpington Hospital for treatment.”

Orpington Hospital, which was rated Good during its last CQC inspection, is part of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.