Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge has opened a new hand clinic in Ely, enabling hundreds of East Cambridgeshire patients a year to be treated closer to home.
The Ely Hand Clinic, which will also help reduce waiting times, is next to the minor injuries unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital and will assess and treat patients referred by their GPs.
It will open each Monday between 2pm and 5pm for patients with problems like arthritis, trigger fingers, lumps, bumps and carpal tunnel syndrome, which until now were seen at Addenbrooke’s.
Most surgery will be carried out at Ely, thanks to techniques allowing patients to be awake during procedures, and go home the same day, although more complex operations will be carried out at Addenbrooke’s.
The clinic is headed by Addenbrooke’s consultant plastic and hand surgeon, Alex Reid, with nurses Carly Taylor and Tanya Morgan. They have the support of reception and other staff at the Princess of Wales Hospital and Ely Day Surgery Unit.
It follows a collaboration between Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, and Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, and is part of ongoing efforts to provide treatment closer to patients’ homes.
Mr Reid said they decided to launch the project following a pilot and survey which showed most patients coming from Fenland and East Cambridgeshire would rather be seen at a local clinic.
He said:
With the population of Cambridgeshire set to expand even more rapidly it is important that we provide service that helps meet demand and provides high quality treatment that is accessible and convenient.
Alex Reid
“In addition to having our own small team, we are pleased to be able to collaborate with the help of the excellent staff here at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely.”
Any GP wishing to refer a patient specifically to this specialist clinic in Ely should continue to do it in the usual way through the Department of Plastic Surgery at Addenbrooke’s Hospital but mark for the attention of the Ely Hand Clinic.