University Hospital of North TeesA £6.5m robotic operating theatre where patients can have less invasive surgery has been completed.
Work on the facility at the University Hospital of North Tees began in February 2024 and the final phase, a new 11-bed recovery space for post operative patients, has now been finished.
As well as being less invasive, surgery carried out with the aid of robots also leads to quicker recovery times, with the theatre to be used in gynaecological and urological procedures, health chiefs said.
Consultant surgeon Anil Agarwal said “care and flow” of patients would improve thanks to the new recovery area.
The facility also has a training room, new emergency maternity theatre, recovery space, toilets and staff room.
Alison Coates, senior operations manager, said: “The plan involved building an entirely new section one floor above ground level to bridge a gap over a courtyard.
“To say it was ambitious is an understatement.”
University Hospital of North TeesNTH Solutions’ design and development manager, Jordan Pearson, said it had been a been a long project but it was now a “theatre suite fit for the future”.
Mr Agarwal said: “Patients are already benefitting from the new operating theatres and now patient care and flow will improve with the new recovery area.
“The new facilities will give theatre staff a better working environment.”