King's Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital opens new £12.5m Endoscopy Unit to patients
The new state-of-the-art £12.5m Endoscopy Unit was officially opened to patients at Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital by outgoing chief executive Caroline Shaw today.
Using digital design and new innovations and technology to improve patient care and experience, the new facility is a digital flagship for QEH and has set the precedent for what a new Queen Elizabeth Hospital could look like as the Trust continues to do all it can to secure the funding to build a new hospital.
Patients' care and experience will be improved with digital interactive information screens and information screens located in waiting rooms.
This will allow patients to download information to their mobile phones providing access to handy details about the facility and their procedure
Smart touch screens in nurse bay areas are providing improved communication to staff.
Meanwhile, room sensors capture information impacting patient's experience, for example light and temperature levels.
Ms Shaw said: “I am thrilled to have opened this new state-of-the-art facility.
"It provides a much-improved experienced for patients and staff and is a significant development for QEH in modernising our hospital and helping to achieve our ambition of being the best rural district general hospital for patient and staff experience.”
Dr Shailesh Karanth, gastroenterologist consultant said: “This new unit is fantastic news for our patients and staff.
"It modernises our facilities and will enable all endoscopies, a procedure where organs inside your body are looked at using a long, usually flexible tube with a lens on one end and a video camera on the other, to take place in one unit.”
The state-of-the-art unit is part of a £38m capital programme being delivered by the QEH as the hospital significantly modernises its facilities, further improving the experience of patients, their families and staff.
Other projects include a new outpatient unit called the Emerson unit which opened in January, the West Norfolk Eye Centre which opened in May, a brand new maternity unit which opened in June.
A brand new dementia-friendly ward opened in July.
The new unit also creates the decant space needed for the work continuing to install failsafe roof supports in the main theatres, as the Trust aims to continue maximising the safety of the current building.
