New safety measures for Macclesfield Hospital

Patients admitted to Macclesfield Hospital for elective surgery procedures will now have greater peace of mind due to new safety measures.

Before the Covid-019 outbreak the orthopaedic ward admitted elective and emergency patients who required urgent and non-urgent care.

New Covid-19 regulations now state all patients attending elective surgery must isolate before admission.

The reconfiguration of the orthopaedics department will ensure Covid-19 negative patients being admitted for elective surgery are separated from those admitted via the emergency department whose Covid-19 status is still to be determined.

The newly-configured wards, known as Ward 10 and Ward 10A are colour coded green and yellow. Ward 10 (elective) will be a green area where patients will be required to isolate for 14 days prior to admission to ensure they are Covid-19 negative. Ward 10A (trauma) has been designated as a yellow area as patients are awaiting their Covid-19 swab results.

Both wards operate via separate entrances and all staff are allocated an area at the start of each shift.

Dr John Hunter, medical director at East Cheshire NHS Trust said: “As we reintroduce our elective programme, which was put on hold as a result of the pandemic, we are reassuring patients it is safe to come in for scheduled surgery. This welcome investment in our orthopaedics wards will allow us to re-commence high quality planned orthopaedic care to our patients in a safe environment.”