Priti Patel MP welcomes proposals for new orthopaedic centre at Colchester Hospital
The Witham MP, Priti Patel has welcomed the announcement (18.02.20) that Colchester Hospital has been chosen as the preferred site for a new £30 million elective care centre for patients requiring orthopaedic surgery.
The new centre is expected to open in 2024 and will treat all orthopaedic patients from both Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals. Priti has supported calls for the new centre to be based at Colchester Hospital and made representations to the Chief Executive at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust to select Colchester as the preferred location. A public consultation on the proposal has also been launched by the Trust and local Clinical Commissioning Groups for local residents to provide their views. The consultation ends on Wednesday 1 April 2020 at 17:00.
Priti said: “This announcement is extremely welcome and fantastic news for my constituents. I have made robust representations to the Chief Executive at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust suggesting the selection of Colchester Hospital as the preferred site for the new centre and I am delighted that they have listened to my arguments. In my constituency, there is no hospital or significant outpatient service and having to travel all the way to Ipswich to access vital health services would be a real hardship for my constituents.
“A public consultation has been launched and I would encourage Witham constituents to respond and make their views known about this proposal. A final decision on the new centre is expected in the summer and I will continue to make the case for this to be based at Colchester Hospital.”