A new major trauma centre is being planned for Norfolk's biggest hospital with the goal of eliminating the need to send seriously-injured patients to Cambridge.
Plans are being drawn up for a new facility at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital which would provide emergency care for people who have suffered traumatic injuries.
Currently, the nearest specialist facility of this type is Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
As a result, patients are often transferred to the Cambridgeshire hospital when they have suffered serious, life-threatening injuries, particularly those related to the brain.
However, if the plans go ahead it is hoped this will no longer need to happen and patients can get the care they need much sooner.
Hospital bosses are preparing to submit a business case for the facility later this month, which would then be mulled over by national health leaders.
It is hoped that would ease the burden on both land and air ambulances by reducing the number of patients being transferred to different hospitals.
As things stand, around one in every 20 trauma patients at the NNUH is transferred to Addenbrooke's, while 10pc are moved on from the James Paget and the Queen Elizabeth.
A new centre in Norwich would mean shorter transfer times for those from the Gorleston and King's Lynn hospitals.
This figure is considerably higher with major head trauma, with 17.9pc of these patients transferred from the NNUH.
However, it is expected that by the final phase of the plan the majority of neurosurgeries could be carried out in Norfolk.
Sam Higginson, NNUH chief executive, said: "We are excited to be developing plans for our hospital to become a second major trauma centre for the region, which will enable us to support the most severely injured patients closer to their homes.
"We already have many of the specialities, such as trauma and orthopaedics and 24/7 emergency theatres, to enable us to become a major trauma centre and over the last two years we have been running an enhanced trauma service, caring for patients with significant and life-threatening injuries.
"We currently care for nearly 850 trauma patients each year, many with complex care needs.
“We are working closely with NHS England, NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board and with regional partners on these proposals and to develop the neurosurgical services we’d need to become a major trauma centre.”
With the plans still being at an early stage, it is not clear what the cost and timescale of the project would be.
It comes a year after the hospital opened a new specialist unit for patients with hand trauma.
The £2.9m unit opened in August 2021 and was part of a wider improvement programme at the site.
The plan would essentially see the existing trauma unit at the hospital upgraded to become a specialist centre for major trauma.
This would be carried out in three phrases:
- Introducing new clinics for neurotrauma.
- Appointing new neurosurgical fellows at the NNUH
- Building neurosurgical capacity at the hospital, beginning with simple surgeries and moving on to more complex procedures
Should it go ahead, the hospital would be required to have on-site neurocritical care and the ability to perform brain surgery on a patient within an hour of their admission.
Alex Stewart, chief executive of Healthwatch Norfolk, said the organisation, which represents patient views, would be supportive of the plan providing adequate staffing to support the unit was supplied.
The proposals are set to be discussed at the Norfolk health overview and scrutiny meeting on Thursday.
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