Royal Hobart Hospital new K-Block operating theatres open

The new wing has five operating theatres, dedicated to orthopaedic, trauma and neurosurgery procedures. See what the first patient had to say >>

Clinical director of surgical and perioperative services Professor Marcus Skinner, director of nursing Mary Condon-Williams and nurse unit manager of the operating suite Paul Geeves in the new surgical ward of K-Block. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

THE Royal Hobart Hospital’s new K-Block may not get any reviews on TripAdvisor — but if it did, Linda McKenzie would give it five stars.

Ms McKenzie, from Bridgewater, was the first patient in the redeveloped hospital’s new operating theatre.

“It was absolutely amazing,” she said.

“The staff are awesome. I love every one of them,” she said as she recuperated after her operation yesterday.

The new wing has five operating theatres, dedicated to orthopaedic, trauma and neurosurgery procedures.

Linda McKenzie, of Bridgewater, was the first patient to be operated on in the new K-Block surgical ward at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

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Clinical director of surgical and perioperative services Professor Marcus Skinner said they were a big improvement on the old facilities.

“These new theatres are just fantastic,” he said.

“They are clearly much larger, more capable, and they have obviously higher technology capability in theatres.

“You can see around me the video systems that provide both the operative capability, and in terms of looking at the operation that can be streamed for education purposes.

“If we’re doing cases, for example, neurosurgical cases, all the members in the theatre can see that case being done, (and) be aware of all stages as to how that case is actually going.”

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Nurse unit manager Paul Geeves said staff were thrilled with the new wing.

“They were pretty happy, very excited, a little nervous, but they were very keen to get it going and they’ve worked very hard over the last couple of days just to get that theatre set up and ready.”

One of the new operating theatres. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Health Minister Sarah Courtney said the opening was a welcome milestone.

“We know that we have wanted this hospital delivered. We know how important it is for the Tasmanian community, but also for our hardworking clinicians.

“We also know that with this building fully operational, we’ll see the additional 44 beds that will, along with a number of other initiatives, help things such as bed block, which has caused a significant amount of pressure on our emergency department here, but also in other locations around the state.”