Surgical hub receives national accreditation

A surgical hub in Cornwall has received national recognition for its delivery of high standard clinical care and operational practice.

St Austell Surgical Hub, run in partnership between Royal Cornwall Hospitals (RCH) NHS Trust and Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, helps patients receive treatment closer to home as well as reducing waiting times.

The trust said since the hub opened in October 2024 to May 2026, it had carried out 4,460 procedures across a range of specialities including gynaecology, ophthalmology and oral surgery.

Surgery group manager Anneka Southworth said the accreditation validated the hard work of their clinical and operational teams.

RCH said the accreditation was awarded through NHS England's Getting It Right First Time programme which assesses surgical hubs against national standards to help improve patient care and provide faster access to common surgical procedures such as cataract surgeries and hip replacements.

RCH said St Austell Surgical Hub was one of 83 hubs to date to have been accredited with 125 hub sites currently in operation in England.

"This accreditation signals that the St Austell Surgical Hub is not only delivering high quality elective care today but is also equipped to expand our capacity, adopt new best practices and continue to reduce waiting times across Cornwall," Southworth said.

Chief executive of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Debbie Richards said the recognition was a "clear sign" of the high-quality care being delivered" through its innovative partnership with RCH.

Richards said: "This is at the heart of neighbourhood health.

"This is NHS partnership working at its best, delivering real benefits for the people of Cornwall."

She added by working closely with RCH, it was using its community hospital to bring expert surgical care closer to home in line with the 10-year health plan.

Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.