COMMENT
Dr Gordon Coutts, chief executive of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, tells NHE about its state-of-the-art ICENI Centre.
H
ealth Secretary Andrew Lansley vis- ited Colchester General Hospital on
March 3 to open a state-of-the-art training and research and development centre for laparoscopic surgery.
The £2m ICENI Centre is a joint venture between Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust and Anglia Ruskin University, which has campuses in Chelmsford and Cambridge. The trust is a partner in ARU’s Postgraduate Medical Institute.
Purpose-built and located next to the hos- pital’s Postgraduate Medical Centre, the ICENI Centre is the only facility of its kind in the UK – a dedicated training centre for laparoscopic surgery with a fully-equipped laparoscopic “mock operating theatre”. Surgeons will travel there from all over the world to be trained.
In addition, its conference-link facilities, which connect it to hospitals and universi- ties around the globe, will be used to help deliver distance-learning courses, enabling surgeons to benefit from the expertise available at the ICENI Centre but without having the need to come to England.
Lansley toured its skills laboratory, which has eight simulators, and its mock operat- ing theatre, where surgeons can practise skills such as suturing and carry out virtual operations, like bile duct repairs, colorec- tal surgery and cholecystectomies.
In addition, the Secretary of State and guests in the centre’s lecture theatre used its conference-link facilities to watch Colchester consultant surgeon Mr Don Menzies carry out a live laparoscopic hernia procedure at Colchester General Hospital.
As a form of minimally-invasive surgery, laparoscopic surgery offers many advan- tages over traditional ‘open’ operations, both for patients and the National Health Service.
For patients, there is less post-operative wound pain, bleeding, and risk of infection
Picture shows L-R Professor Michael Thorne, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University; Sally Irvine, Chair of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust; Professor Roger Motson, consultant surgeon at Colchester General Hospital; Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health; Mr Greg Wynn, consultant surgeon at Colchester General Hospital. Mr Lansley is shown operating a laparoscopic simulator.
because it involves small incisions rather than large cuts. They spend less time in hospital and are able to return to normal activities sooner.
For the NHS, it results in greater efficiency because it reduces the amount of time pa- tients spend in hospital and, therefore, the cost of hospital stays, freeing up beds for other patients.
The two-storey centre, which is light and airy, has been shortlisted for the 2011 Local Authority Building Control (LABC) East Anglia Building Excellence Awards. Shortlisted in the ‘Best Sustainable Project’ category, its design incorpo- rates sustainable, energy-saving features. Laparoscopic experts from all over the UK, as well as Colchester’s own laparoscopic surgeons, will teach at the facility, which is expected to host about 35 courses in 2011. One of the Colchester surgeons, Mr Tan Arulampalam, has led the development of a Masters programme.
In September 2011, it will be the loca- tion for the sixth annual congress of the International Society of Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgeons, the only meeting in the world devoted solely to laparoscopic colorectal surgery, which will be attended by delegates from Australia, Hong Kong and the USA, as well as Europe.
Colchester General Hospital helped to pio- neer the use of keyhole surgery in the UK and has built up an international reputa-
tion for its work – both in the operating theatre and in training other laparoscopic surgeons.
The trust’s laparoscopic team is led by Professor Roger Motson, who has been a consultant at Colchester General Hospital since 1984. In 2001 he became a Professor of Surgery at Anglia Ruskin University in recognition of his national and interna- tional reputation in laparoscopic surgery.
Colchester General Hospital has the high- est concentration of advanced laparoscop- ic surgeons in the UK and performs more procedures across more disciplines than any other hospital. For example, it is a designated centre of excellence for laparo- scopic colorectal surgery and laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis. It performs the highest percentage of colorectal proce- dures.
The trust has 22 consultants who operate laparoscopically – eight gastrointestinal surgeons, eight obstetricians / gynaecolo- gists, four urologists and two vascular sur- geons.
The first laparoscopic course in Colchester was held in 1992 and courses are arranged for theatre staff as well as surgeons.
Gordon Coutts
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.icenicentre.org
national health executive Mar/Apr 11 | 21
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