November 14, 2023 - 508 views
A second minor procedure room for hand surgery has now opened at Llandudno Hospital to help reduce waiting times and lower the carbon footprint within surgical procedures.
The room is based on the Maes Du Ward within the community hospital and operations such as carpal tunnel, removal of small tissue cysts and tendon procedures can be carried out there.
This follows the successful opening of the first minor procedure room in Wrexham Maelor Hospital earlier this year.
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Edwin Jesudason, who is carrying out the surgery at Llandudno Hospital, said: “Almost any minor hand operation under local anaesthetic can be carried out in this clinical area. The only procedures that we are unable to carry out there are those that would require general anaesthetic or a major nerve block, and surgery requiring implants.
“We are delighted to get this minor procedure room up and running, we find our patients are much more relaxed coming in for their surgery as they are not waiting on the ward and don’t need to change to a hospital gown such as they would in theatres.”
Elspeth Mills, from Pwllheli, was amongst the first group of patients to have her procedure at Llandudno Hospital in recent weeks.
Elspeth needed a tendon transfer operation following a wrist fracture around three years ago which left her struggling to open her hand fully, making it extremely difficult to grasp items properly and wear gloves.
She said: “Since my accident it has generally got worse to cope with as I have been unable to properly open my hand which makes what would normally be simple tasks very difficult.
“I was due to have the operation pre COVID but obviously that pushed everything back so I was really pleased to receive an appointment for the operation.
“I have had hand surgery before but that was in a main hospital theatre so this was very different. There was a lot of waiting around on the ward and I had to get changed, so this time was very different.
“It was a very relaxing atmosphere and I didn’t feel I was coming in for an operation as such, I can see why they want to do these procedures in this way, not just for the environmental benefits but also it’s a much better patient experience.”
