Elective surgery gets green light to recommence
ELECTIVE surgery is being reintroduced at Macclesfield Hospital with anti-Covid measures to keep patients safe.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic the orthopaedic ward admitted both elective and emergency patients.
The orthopaedic department has now been redesigned to have two wards to keep these two groups separate.
Elective patients will be on ward 10 - colour coded green - and are required to isolate for 14 days prior to being admitted to ensure they are Covid negative.
Emergency admissions will be in ward 10a - coded yellow - while they wait for their Covid-19 swabs results.
Both wards operate via separate entrances and all staff are allocated an area at the start of each shift.
Staff are not able to move from a yellow area to a green area during their shift, reducing the potential transmission risks.
Doctor John Hunter, medical director at East Cheshire NHS Trust, which runs Macclesfield Hospital, said: “As we reintroduce our elective programme, which was put on hold as a result of the pandemic, we are reassuring patients that it is safe to come in for scheduled surgery.
“This welcome investment in our orthopaedics wards will allow us to recommence the provision of high quality planned orthopaedic care to our patients in a safe environment.”
An additional anti-coronavirus measure in place is all elective patients being asked to wait in their car on the day of surgery while a staff member comes out to greet them and undergo the Covid screening questions.
The trust has allocated two car parking spaces outside the orthopaedic entrance off Fieldbank Road, which have been marked in green for anyone coming for elective surgery.