West Suffolk Hospital
About the Hospital:
The West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust came into being on April 1st, 1993. It serves an area of approximately 600 square miles which extends to Thetford in the north, Sudbury in the south, Newmarket to the west and Stowmarket to the east. This encompasses a population of approximately 265,000.
West Suffolk Hospital is a busy and popular district general hospital run by a forward-thinking Trust which aspires to become a NHS Foundation Trust. For the 2nd year, the Trust was given an ‘excellent’ rating for quality of services by the Healthcare Commission.
A major extension providing facilities for elderly patients opened in 1977, the Day Surgery Unit opened in 1994, the Education Centre was completed 2003, the Eye Treatment Centre in 2004 and the new Macmillan Centre opened in 2005.
March 2006 saw the completion of a £3.4m Radiology scheme that delivered a new X-ray facility in the A&E area to aid through put of patients, a new nuclear medicine department, an additional CT scanner suite and new waiting areas.
Work has started on a new £1.2m special endoscopy unit, which will improve the patient experience. During 2009 £1.63m will be invested in the refurbishment of a larger pharmacy unit. It will incorporate the latest technology including a dispensing robot.
The West Suffolk Hospital has around 480 beds open at any one time and is set in an attractive 19-hectare parkland site on the edge of Bury St Edmunds.
Education and Training
In partnership with the University of Cambridge the hospital runs the innovative Cambridge Graduate Course for graduates of any discipline who want to build a career in medicine. A special feature of the course is the involvement of teaching in six local General Practices. Competition for places is fierce and those qualifying from earlier years continue to be successful in their choice of careers.
