Musgrove Park celebrate 30 years at their Day Surgery Centre
The centre first opened its doors in 1994
Last updated 25th Jul 2024
NHS staff at Musgrove's Day Surgery in Taunton, are celebrating the centre's thirtieth birthday.
The centre is used to treat patients who don't require an overnight hospital stay.
Since the centre opened in 1994, the number of operating theatres have doubled and the procedures have become far more complex.
Updates in technology and robotics mean procedures such as hysterectomies and caesareans are now possible at the centre.
Staff hope by moving more complex procedures to the centre, patients can be treated more efficiently and recover in the comfort of their own home.
Debbie May has worked as a nurse at the centre since it opened thirty years ago.
"It’s definitely the way forward – patients don’t want to stay overnight and go to the main hospital," she said.
"As long as they’ve got the adequate pain relief and support at home there's absolutely no reason why we can’t do it here.
"We can get so many patients through here safely home and we can get those lists down at the end of the day."
Gemma Briggs is the lead matron at the surgery, she said: "We know that people typically can recover more at home and have a speedier recovery.
"They tend to feel more relaxed and settled in their own environments with their own family around them.
"We certainly have a vision for the future of surgery which is certainly going to feature more day based procedures – who knows where we’re going to be in the next thirty years."
And staff are already looking to the future and hoping to utilise the centre to its full potential.
"AI in medicine is becoming really popular so for example they can read X-rays," said Gemma.
"So AI could look at an X-ray or a scan and give you a diagnosis, the same way a doctor could."