The former NHS Nightingale Hospital in Exeter is to be re-purposed to help reduce waiting lists for medical appointments and treatments that have built up due to the pandemic.
From this month, the facility will provide a range of services to non-COVID-19 patients living across Devon, including:
- Centre of Excellence of Eyes – a high volume cataract and diagnostic hub for ophthalmology
- Southwest Ambulatory Orthopaedic Centre – two operating theatres for day case and short stay elective orthopaedic procedures
- Devon Diagnostic Centre – a community diagnostic hub
- Rheumatology – the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust’s rheumatology service
A spokesperson for NHS Devon said:
“We know that waiting lists continue to grow, particularly for our orthopaedic and ophthalmology services, and as an off-site elective facility for non-COVID-19 patients, the Nightingale will allow us to care for an increased number of patients and pilot the separation of elective services from our hospital sites to better protect elective care across Devon.”