PRE-OPERATIVE assessment checks for Musgrove Park Hospital patients are now being carried out in Cotford St Luke.

The village’s Dene Barton Community Hospital is being used to provide patients who need surgery with a ‘calmer, more spacious setting’.

Dene Barton has a large waiting area for patients and free car parking, and the change means most Musgrove patients no longer need to travel to a busy district hospital site before their surgery.

Musgrove’s Pre-Operative Assessment Clinic (POAC) has seen increasing demand in recent years, mainly because more patients than ever need surgery.

The new location has dedicated rooms for anaesthetists to have conversations with their patients, healthcare assistants to run their clinics, and nurses to carry out their assessments.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust service manager Annie Allen said: “Most of our patients no longer need to come into an acute hospital like Musgrove for their appointment before their surgery, which is great news for them.

“At Dene Barton Community Hospital, the parking is free, it is a calmer environment, and the space is much bigger, which makes a real difference.

“In fact, in October, we saw over 500 patients in the community instead of at Musgrove, taking away the stress of navigating a large busy hospital for our patients, who sometimes have limited mobility while they wait for their surgery.”

Although telephone assessments have been carried out in recent years, patients still need to see a healthcare assistant for their observations, such as a blood tests.

POAC clinical manager Amanda Newell said: “Having a bigger clinic space means we will be able to see more high-risk patients, who could be frail, in person.

“We will also get a much better sense of how they are than we would on the phone.”

POAC supports patients having planned surgery under general anaesthetic or sedation, except paediatric patients and those needing vascular or bariatric surgery.

The team has about 30 colleagues, including nurses, healthcare assistants, operating department practitioners, administration colleagues, and anaesthetists.

One patient visiting Dene Barton, Linda Garcia, said: “It is very peaceful here.

“Much better than Musgrove.

“I do like Musgrove, but you do feel the peace when you walk in here.”

The team carries out an average of 180 nurse-led assessments weekly, with healthcare assistants supporting patients for face-to-face observations.

Some services will still run from Musgrove, especially for patients under the care of cancer clinics, such as gynaecology and urology, whose surgery is scheduled as urgent.

The team will also continue to support patients at Musgrove who may find it difficult to travel to Cotford St Luke.

The site is shared with other outpatient services such as physiotherapy, pain management, speech and language therapy, and the Somerset Neurological Rehabilitation Centre, which is an inpatient ward with an average of 10 patients at any one time.

The use of Dene Barton supports the NHS Long Term Plan, which aims to shift care closer to home and into the community, and reduce reliance on acute hospital-based services.