We welcomed Julian Kelly, Chief Financial Officer at NHS England, to see how the expansion of our Elective Surgical Hub at King George Hospital is progressing on Friday 23 June – holding a topping out ceremony to celebrate the new building reaching its highest point.

Julian, who also got a chance to see our existing hub and learn about how it has been key in helping us to reduce our waiting lists, said: “Well done to the whole team. It has been great seeing what you’ve been up to and getting ideas we can share elsewhere.

“I’ve enjoyed speaking to the team to see what you’ve learned, so we can use those lessons and expertise to help in other trusts.”

Work on a £14m expansion of our hub, which includes two new theatres, upgraded staff facilities, and double the number of recovery beds, began last November.

Thangadorai Amalesh, our Divisional Director of Surgery, said: “At the stage it’s at now, the new building looks impressive. What is key is that it has additional capacity for us and will provide more value for our patients.

“It’s a massive investment for our local population and I’m looking forward to it being fully up and running.”

The expansion is due to be completed by next spring. The new facilities will allow us to undertake an additional 100 operations each week.