A DEDICATED day care unit for orthopaedic patients is to be provided at the Royal Preston Hospital following a £950,000 cash injection aimed at reducing hospital waiting times.
Hospital chiefs say the money will be used to improve orthopaedic services at both Chorley and South Ribble and the Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trusts.
The cash is part of a £75 million handout which has been made available for 19 North West hospitals, with additional funding of £11 million.
A spokesman for the hospital's NHS Trust said: "We are delighted to have secured this significant investment in our orthopaedic services. The money will be used to support a redevelopment of orthopaedic services across our hospital sites at Chorley and Preston.
"This will improve patient care and help reduce our waiting lists."
An additional operating theatre for orthopaedic surgery will be built at Chorley and South Ribble District General Hospital to enable more day cases and elective operations, for example knee and hip replacements, to be carried out there.
The new unit at the Royal Preston will replace the current day case facilities at Sharoe Green Hospital, due for closure at the end of 2003.
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