Orthopaedic Theatre Feasibility Study

The first step was to understand the scale of the clinical challenge and how the estate could support elective recovery. Health Spaces responded quickly with a site visit and worked closely with the Trust’s estates and clinical teams to understand the impact of the loss of orthopaedic provision, the capacity required to support recovery and the wider estate strategy for the hospital site.

The team also needed to understand the constraints of the existing hospital environment. With limited space available, the feasibility work had to test not only where additional theatre capacity could be located, but how it could connect with the wider pathway of care, including inpatient accommodation, recovery and supporting clinical spaces.

Infection prevention and control was also a key consideration. Any new invasive surgery environment would need to support safe practice, reduce infection risk and provide a suitable setting for elective orthopaedic care in the post-pandemic context.

With the clinical need and site constraints understood, Health Spaces developed a high-level concept for a new four-storey orthopaedic block. The proposed scheme brought together operating theatre space, inpatient ward accommodation, recovery areas and ancillary support spaces into one integrated concept. This allowed the Trust to understand how a more complete orthopaedic pathway could be accommodated on the hospital site.

The concept design was developed to support future decision-making and potential funding applications. It gave the Trust a clearer view of the scale, scope and opportunity of the proposed development, while helping to test how additional elective capacity could be delivered within the constraints of the existing estate.