New £2.7m department opens at RUH

Patients, staff and guests gathered to celebrate the official opening of the new Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Orthodontics department (OMFS) at the Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RUH).

The £2.7million investment, which is part of The Trust's Fit for the Future programme, a redevelopment plan to transform the RUH site and further improve the services provided, has positioned the RUH as a 'Centre of Excellence' for conditions of the head and neck, including cancer.

The event was attended by many of the department's current and former patients, members of staff both past and present, supporters of the Forever Friends Appeal and Bath Rugby player Jamie Roberts who was invited to officially declare the department open.

Jamie said: "It was a pleasure to be invited to open this fantastic new facility. It's going to transform patient care and allow the doctors and nurses to work their magic. As you can imagine, myself and the team get our fair share of facial injuries so it's great to know we have such a superb facility and team on our doorstep."

Trust Chair Alison Ryan said: "Congratulations to everyone for the part they played in creating this great facility. This is the sort of development for the future that the Trust aims to provide and it's part of a major long-term investment that is good for our patients and staff. We are all very proud of it."

Patient Roger Croombe said: "It's a wonderful new unit with facilities that the staff deserve. They are so good, so professional and so caring – this new department will be a huge benefit to them and to patients like me."

The new department has a bright and welcoming reception and waiting area, four modern consulting rooms, a fully-equipped orthodontics suite, two minor operations rooms, an updated dental laboratory and new X-ray equipment.

Lead consultant Serryth Colbert said: "It's just amazing to be in this incredible facility. We wouldn't be here without all our supporters and our fantastic team, who provide care at an astonishing level. We are very ambitious and now we can plan for the future to attract the best people offering the best possible services to our patients."

The new department was partly funded by the hospital's charity, The Forever Friends Appeal who more than doubled their original fundraising target of £200,000. The additional funds will be spent on a Cone-Beam CT X-ray machine allowing patients to have specialist scans at the RUH rather than having to travel to Bristol.

Tim Hobbs, Forever Friends Appeal Head of Fundraising said: "It's thanks to everyone's support that we've been able to help the RUH create this fantastic facility for the team to continue to deliver life-changing care and treatments to the 9,900 new patients each year.

"I'd especially like to thank the families of two former patients, Lyn Ann Lewkowicz and Dorothy May Angell, who made significant donations in their memory."

ENDS

Notes to Editor

• The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust provides acute treatment and care for a catchment population of around 500,000 people in Bath, and the surrounding towns and villages in North East Somerset and Western Wiltshire. The hospital provides healthcare to the population served by four Clinical Commissioning Groups: Bath & North East Somerset CCG, Wiltshire CCG, Somerset CCG and South Gloucestershire CCG.
• The Trust has 759 beds and a comprehensive range of acute services including medicine and surgery, services for women and children, accident and emergency services, and diagnostic and clinical support services.
• In 2015 The Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust acquired the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) NHS Foundation Trust. The RNHRD treats patients from across the country offering services in rheumatology, chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, cancer related fatigue and fatigue linked to other long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
• The RUH is changing - we have an exciting programme of redevelopment underway transforming our site and further improving the services we provide. The Trust is building a purpose built RNHRD and Therapies Centre and is now working towards a new Dyson Cancer Centre. For more details visit: www.ruh.nhs.uk/fit4future

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