Today the first patients will have surgery at the Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre.
The purpose built centre, housed in the Dame Clare Marx Building at Colchester Hospital will help to change the lives of up to 10,000 people each year, is one of the largest centres of its kind in Europe and has created around 300 jobs in the area.
With eight theatres, three wards and 72 inpatient beds, the state-of-the-art centre is dedicated to elective surgery for bones, joints and muscles, meaning that operations are less likely to be postponed, reducing waiting times and lists.
Named after Dame Clare Marx, who was an orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital and also president of both the British Orthopaedic Association and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, this five-year project has seen a huge amount of hard work from all involved.
Nick Hulme, Chief Executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the centre said: “This is a fantastic day for us as a Trust and for those people across Suffolk and north east Essex who are currently waiting, in pain, for an operation that will help them to get back to their normal lives.
“We have created one of largest centres in Europe dedicated solely to elective care. The funding of which is, in no small part, a result of the merger of our two trusts, enabling us to access higher levels of funding and showing that together, as one Trust, we can achieve great things for the people who we come to work for every day – our patients.
“I want to thank everyone for their involvement in this huge project. Everyone has worked extremely hard to get us to this point and we couldn’t have done any of it without their superb efforts.”
ESNEFT’s Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre, is housed in the purpose-built Dame Clare Marx Building at Colchester Hospital.
David Spaul was one of the first patients to have surgery in the centre.
For fossil hunter David it will mark the beginning of his recovery, which will mean he can return to his hobby of hunting for fossils and shark teeth – the very hobby which caused his knee injury.
Today he will be undergoing reconstructive surgery on his ACL ligament in his knee after injuring himself in April when a night time fossil hunting expedition turned into disaster.
The 64-year-old jumped from height from a sea defence onto the beach below at Walton on the Naze, badly injuring his knee.
In incredible pain and all alone it took him more than an hour and a half to get himself off the beach and to a place of safety.
His seven month wait for surgery has meant that as a self-employed taxidermist of large game animals, he has been unable to work or keep up his hobbies of fossil hunting or fishing.
David said: “I’m really looking forward to getting the surgery done.
“I haven’t been fishing since April or looking for fossils and I know they’ve been finding some really good stuff.
“I haven’t let it get me down, but I have just tried to be sensible as I didn’t want to slip or injure myself further.”
David Spaul pictured with his dog Ralph
Did you know?
The building is made up of 289 pre-built modules which started being lifted into place by a huge crane in February last year. This technique meant that the centre could be built more quickly than using more traditional methods of building.
ESNEFT put the patient at the heart of the centre and brought together a patient group, made up of people who had already had orthopaedic surgery to help with the design. Some of their ideas included: the addition of the drop off zone outside the centre, big windows in all areas to let in natural light and the colour scheme.
MTX Contracts Ltd is the site management team for the construction of the centre. Scott McCaskie is the MTX Director who has been most closely involved with the project.
He said: “The Essex and Suffolk Elective Orthopaedic Centre project at Colchester Hospital is a landmark development both in terms of its size – with eight operating theatres dedicated to elective orthopaedic surgery and more than 70 patient beds – and its achievement as the largest building of its kind in the UK created using modern methods of construction employing off-site manufactured structural steel units, services modules and the best of traditional building techniques.
“The sloping site was challenging but MTX has worked very closely in partnership with the Trust to deliver a design and build project of which we are all hugely proud, and which will make a massive difference to patient care and waiting lists.
“Modern methods of construction enable MTX to deliver urgently needed high quality facilities for the NHS faster, greener, safer and more cost effectively than ever before, and we continue to improve our processes to deliver projects which provide the best outcomes for patients and the best working environments for staff.”
Honouring Dame Clare Marx
Dame Clare Marx, pictured below, was a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital. She had a truly exceptional career, including becoming the first female president of both the British Orthopaedic Association and The Royal College of Surgeons of England before becoming the Chair of the General Medical Council.
We were delighted when Dame Clare accepted the invitation for the name of our new elective care centre to be named in her honour and that she was able to be with us at the start of building work. Dame Clare sadly died in November 2022, but we will be able to carry on her inspirational work in this pioneering new centre.
Dame Clare was a caring and compassionate doctor to all her patients in east Suffolk and beyond. She was an outstanding ambassador for both Ipswich Hospital and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust since 2018. She championed women in medicine and has inspired thousands of young people to become clinicians.
(L-R) Dr Shane Gordon, Director of Strategy, Research and Innovation, Mr Mark Bowditch, Divisional Clinical Director and Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dame Clare Marx, Nick Hulme, ESNEFT Chief Executive, and Mr Mark Loeffler, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the turf cutting