THE Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the need for more operating facilities at a Bradford hospital, according to a health trust.

Bradford Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust plans to create two new day case operating theatres at St Luke’s Hospital to deal with the “vulnerability” of its current facilities.

It says the current backlog in treatments will not be reduced unless the hospital has at least three theatres.

The Trust plans to create the two new theatres on the site of the hospital’s old records building.

An application to demolish this building to make way for the new development was refused by Bradford Council last month. Planning officers raised concerns about the lack of detail over the planned demolition.

The Trust has now re-submitted their plans, with more details of the planned demolition of the Victorian building.

And the Council has been asked to deal with the application “as a matter of priority.”

The application says the hospital “serves a population with significant health challenges, the true impacts of which have come into focus as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

It adds: “The Trust has already experienced three significant Covid peaks, the highest of which represented in excess of 30 per cent of the bed base being occupied by Covid positive patients. Unfortunately, as a result of the Delta variant and the emergency of the 4th Covid peak, the level of Covid-19 demand has impacted the on-site elective programme and highlighted the vulnerability associated with the current single site operating model.

“Capacity for inpatient, day case and preoperative admissions will not be restored without an estates solution and therefore there is an imperative to identify alternative accommodation.

“The Trust would be able to provide 30 sessions per working week within the new build at St Luke’s site (staffing and revenue will be required) to offset the additional capacity taken up by urgent non-elective theatre cases. This requires three operating theatres.”

The Trust says the records building is no longer used, adding: “The demolition of the existing building will free up the required space on the hospital site to enable the future application for and development of much needed day theatre facilities for the benefit of the wider community.”

The records building is “neither adaptable or compatible with the requirements of a contemporary theatre facility.”

The application says the new theatres will be a pre-fabricated building.

If the demolition work is approved, the Trust says any natural stone from the building will be collected and re-used.