Our Surgery team (above) pulled out all the stops to operate on 32 skin cancer patients in just one day on Saturday 27 November – triple the number which would usually be seen on an average day.

The Saturday clinic was held in addition to our normal clinics with the aim of getting as many patients as possible the treatment they needed, helping to reduce our waiting lists which have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was led by Maxillofacial, Head and Neck surgeon Neil Shah, who said: “The pandemic has caused many issues, including patients not going to their GP as they were scared. This has led to a backlog of work which we are keen to get through as quickly as we can.”

Mark Churchill, Theatres Matron, had the idea to carry out a high number of simple procedures on a single day, and the team set to work identifying suitable patients.

On a usual day, they would treat around eight to ten patients, however, careful planning and teamwork meant we were able to carry out triple that. All the procedures were for facial skin cancers, predominantly small lump removals.

Our team worked so efficiently, there were just minutes between patients leaving the theatre, before it was cleaned and ready for the next one.

Neil, who has been at our Trust since 2006, added: “Everyone had a specific role and we worked in a very structured way. To make this happen we needed lots of staff, and goodwill from them to come in on a Saturday and make it work.

“Everyone was great, and we’ve had excellent feedback from our patients.”

Further high-volume days like this will be held in the new year to help us continue to reduce our waiting lists. Neil also plans to use the same format to carry out more complex procedures, aiming to complete up to 15 in a day.

Read more about our recovery.