More than 1700 NHS patients have undergone urgent cancer surgery at BMI The Park Hospital since March 2020 as a result of a successful partnership with Nottingham University Hospital’s NHS Trust.
The partnership, established back at the start of the first lockdown, has continued throughout the pandemic to treat more than 1700 of the city’s most urgent cancer cases.
The arrangement sees cancer patients from Nottingham University Hospitals transferred to BMI The Park independent hospital for their operations. In addition, some staff and consultants from the NHS have transferred with their patients to BMI The Park to provide continuity of care for NHS patients.
Utilising the skills and experience of the team at The Park, NUH have been able to reallocate some of their most complex cancer surgery to this alternative site. For may patients the reassurance of coming to a ‘Covid-free’ hospital, on such a smaller scale has given them the confidence to come forward for their surgery.
For NHS patient Richard Hornby (53), his operation in December at BMI The Park Hospital has ‘given him a future’.
Mr Hornby was diagnosed with bowel cancer back in June 2019 and underwent a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy to shrink the tumour.
It seemed at first that the urgent surgery he required following this treatment was to be postponed but he was relieved to be given a date of 1st December 2020 at The Park Hospital under the care of his NUH Consultant Mr Abeed Chowdhury.
‘To know that I was going to a smaller hospital. Because of Covid and everything you hear on the news, it was a relief to be going somewhere like The Park.’
‘I was in hospital for three weeks. The first week I was in Intensive Care and then for the second two weeks I had my own private room with an en-suite. This was fantastic as it gave me some privacy and I felt safe. I was tested for Covid before coming in for surgery and then every week during my stay. This was really reassuring. ‘
When asked what he would say to other patients waiting for similar procedures Mr Hornby said ‘on 16th June 2019 I was told I had 1 to 3 years to live, following this surgery I’m almost guaranteed to be cancer free, it has given me a future.’ ‘Don’t stay at home getting more sick, going to hospital may save your life’.
In addition to the urgency to treat cancer patients, a proportion of the NHS elective work from both Nottingham University Hospitals and Sherwood Forest Hospital’s Trusts will also be undertaken at BMI The Park Hospital to alleviate growing waiting lists across other specialties.
Amanda Dorkes, Executive Director at BMI The Park Hospital, in Burntstump Park, Arnold explained the prioritisation process for patients.
‘All patients are being treated in order of clinical priority; cancer of course comes at the top of this list but it has not been forgotten that there are many other patients in Nottingham living in debilitating pain or with conditions that are having a huge impact on both their physical and mental wellbeing. Alongside our colleagues in the NHS we are urging patients to seek medical advice if they have any concerns over their health’.
‘It is a growing concern that patients who have been listed for surgery and undertaken all the necessary preparations for their operation are choosing to cancel at short notice due to a concern over coming into hospital during this peak of the pandemic.
‘For many of these patients they are literally risking their life by staying at home rather than coming for life saving surgery. Due to the stringent processes prior to surgery to ensure The Park Hospital remains Covid free their bed cannot simply be reallocated to another patient at such short notice and this is therefore having even greater repercussions.
Dr Keith Girling, Medical Director of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust wrote to the team at BMI The Park Hospital at Christmas expressing the gratitude of his colleagues ‘for the tremendous support’ they had ‘all provided to NHS patients and NUH teams through this really challenging year. Through the collaborative work we have undertaken we have been able to provide care for a phenomenal number of patients.’
As the pandemic continues to impact the health service in 2021, the relationship between the NHS and Independent Sector in Nottingham will not diminish. Amanda Dorkes said ‘our collective aim is to ensure that those patient’s who most urgently require surgery are treated without further delay and are given the greatest opportunity for a future beyond Covid.’
