Queen Mary's Operating Theatres to Remain Open

---

Mobile units in Roehampton were set up to help tackle pandemic backlog

Theatre unit at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton. Picture: Sonnemann Toon Architects LLP/St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trus

February 19, 2025

A Roehampton hospital will keep four mobile operating theatres it opened during the Covid-19 pandemic to help tackle a backlog of operations. The theatre unit first opened in the car park of Queen Mary’s Hospital in 2021 and was initially granted permission to stay open for three years.

Wandsworth Council has now approved plans from St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to keep the unit open for another five years, up to December 2029, as the backlog of elective operations is not yet cleared. The unit will continue to be used for elective operations and day procedures, which allows operating theatres at other local hospitals to deal with emergencies and major operations.

Hospitals were forced to cancel non-emergency treatment to prioritise those with Covid during the pandemic, which resulted in a huge backlog of patients on waiting lists in England. The trust usually performs operations on 1,500 elective patients every month, but carried out 10,608 fewer elective operations than expected between March 2020 and May 2021. This has resulted in longer waiting times for routine operations across South West London.

Application documents said that while the unit at Queen Mary’s Hospital was originally only meant to stay open for a short period of time, it is still needed to tackle the trust’s backlog in elective operations and provide a ‘very significant public service’. The unit includes four operating theatres, accommodation for recovering patients, anaesthetic rooms, changing areas, consultation space and a reception.

A letter from the trust, submitted with the application, said the unit has been a ‘great success’ and helped to slash waiting list times from 26 weeks in 2021 to 17 weeks in 2024. The unit has treated more than 11,650 patients so far.

The documents said, “The need to retain the emergency theatre unit on the site is the result of the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused a backlog in operations of all kinds as a result of hospital space being used to treat those worst affected by the virus.”

They added, “In order to maintain reduced waiting times, and lower them further, the theatre unit needs to continue to operate in its current form and location, as there are no other viable options.”


Charlotte Lilywhite - Local Democracy Reporter