Four new theatres at St Albans City Hospital will add about 2,300 operations a year and take the site to eight. They are kept for planned surgery only.

A new surgical centre with four operating theatres has opened at St Albans City Hospital on Waverley Road. The trust that runs the hospital expects it to carry out around 2,300 extra operations a year.

St Albans MP Daisy Cooper opened the centre on the afternoon of Thursday 22 October. West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust announced the opening the next day in a news release.

What has opened

The trust’s release sets out what the centre adds:

  • four new operating theatres, taking the hospital to eight in total
  • around 2,300 extra operations a year
  • theatres 50% bigger than the hospital’s existing ones
  • space built in for robotic surgery, lasers and other newer treatments
  • a surgical robot, which the trust says allows more precise operations and, in some cases, less pain and a faster recovery

The theatres will be used for urology, breast surgery, and ear, nose and throat operations, among other procedures.

The centre is part of what the trust calls a £100m programme of work on the St Albans site. A Community Diagnostics Centre for scans and tests opened there earlier this year, and new endoscopy and urology units are still to come, according to the release.

Why planned surgery is kept separate

The new theatres are “ring-fenced” for planned operations. Emergency operations, which cannot be booked in advance, will be done at Watford General Hospital instead.

The trust says this means patients booked in at St Albans should not have their operation cancelled because an emergency has taken the theatre. It also says it aims to get every patient home within 24 hours of their operation.

The hospital’s surgical hub has already been accredited under NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme. The trust says St Albans is one of 92 hubs accredited so far, out of 125 operating in England.

The grey clad exterior of the new surgical centre building at St Albans City Hospital
The new surgical centre building at St Albans City Hospital. Photo: supplied by West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

What they said

Matthew Coats, the trust’s chief executive, said the centre “will mean more operations, for more people and will help drive down waiting lists”.

“This has the potential to be a real game changer and deliver the first-class services our communities deserve,” he said.

Daisy Cooper said that “being ill and needing an operation can be a very anxious time”. She said the benefits of the centre “will genuinely improve people’s health outcomes and their quality of life”.

What it means for you

  • Planned surgery only. The new theatres are for booked operations, not emergencies.
  • If you are already waiting for urology, breast or ENT surgery with West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals, your appointment letter will say which hospital your operation is at. The trust has not said how existing waiting lists will be moved.
  • Emergencies still go to Watford. The trust says urgent care and outpatient appointments will continue at St Albans City Hospital.
  • Where it is: the hospital is on Waverley Road, St Albans. Our trains and travel page covers rail links into the city.