A £6 million re-development plan for St Michael’s Hospital in Hayle, which will secure its future as the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust’s dedicated centre of excellence for breast surgery and orthopaedics, has been given the go ahead.

The Strategic Health Authority board have agreed plans that will involve building two new laminar flow operating theatres and further developments which will increase bed numbers.

It is expected the theatres will be in action by early Autumn 2009. Funding for the re-development is coming from the Department of Health and the trust’s 2008/2009 capital programme.

The development at the hospital is a necessary move towards fulfilling the needs of patients from across Cornwall and has strong community support. A commitment has been given by the health community to develop first class elective services within the facilities at St Michael’s, which is being supported by St Michael’s Hospital Development Control Plan.

The proposal will increase the number of theatres at St Michael’s from two to four laminar flow theatres allowing for an increase in elective orthopaedic surgery by making an additional five sessions per week available and enabling the breast surgery service to double its work from the five sessions a week it currently has to ten. This will allow for a greater number of patients to be treated.

Robin Kincaid, an orthopaedic surgeon working at St Michael’s, said: “These are larger, more state-of-the-art theatres, the most technologically advanced in Cornwall. In fact these are the largest theatres in the trust. That’s got to be good for patients in the county.

“The local community is supportive and all my colleagues at the Royal Cornwall Hospital are very supportive and very excited by the whole thing. It’s definitely an improvement for our working lives and patients’ as well.”

He added: “It really will be an excellent facility for local people and the general population throughout Cornwall.”

The new theatres at St Michael’s will be Laminar flow. This involves ultraclean ventilation to reduce the number of organisms present in the air. A continuous flow of highly filtered air is recirculated under positive pressure into the operating theatre and air contaminants generated during surgery are removed.

Ann James, Chief Executive of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, said: "The introduction of these new theatres shows how the health community is fulfilling its promise to fully develop St Michael’s, providing it with a secure and vibrant future. Investing in new facilities across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will help to provide patients with the best quality clinical care. Improving cancer care is one of the proposed ten priority areas for the local NHS over the next five years and this announcement is a welcome boost for local services."

The new developments will allow the breast surgery service to maintain its current level of activity and to meet the future needs of local women by increasing the provision of breast surgery at St Michael’s. It currently deals with 900 cases a year and demand is expected to continue to increase. The work will also complete the centralisation of the service to provide a single centre in Cornwall where women are cared for by a dedicated and specialised team on a female ward.

The service is in the process of being transferred so that all treatment is undertaken at the St Michael’s site having previously been split between the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro and West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance.

Liz Thornton, a patient at St Michael’s, said: “The facilities here are wonderful anyway but to be able to do more surgery here would be just wonderful. It’s definitely a bonus for me and lots of other local people. I have experience of both Treliske and St Michael’s and they are just wonderful. The service and skills of staff are just excellent.”

Andrew George, MP for West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Constituency of St Ives, said: "This represents a welcome demonstration of faith in the future of St Michael's. This will confirm the hospital as a centre of excellence in both breast and orthopaedic surgery."