Health Minister Ashley Dalton meets staff and patients at Dewsbury Hospital’s new surgical hub

Ashley Dalton, Labour Member of Parliament for West Lancashire and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, visited MY Surgical Hub at Dewsbury and District Hospital on Monday 8 December for the official ministerial opening.

She met with staff and patients and learned how the surgical hub is helping to shorten waiting times for surgical procedures, outpatient services and one stop same day appointments, for local people.

Public Health and Prevention Minister, Minister Ashley Dalton said: “I’m delighted to have visited Dewsbury to see first-hand how patients are benefitting from this new surgical hub.

“Patients deserve to get the surgery they need without lengthy waits, and that's exactly why this government invested in 17 surgical hubs this year, delivering tens of thousands of extra operations a year.

“Separate and protected from the A&E department, these surgical hubs   are   free   to focus on elective care,   ensuring routine and planned operations   don’t   get cancelled and postponed due to pressures elsewhere.  

“Centres like these are key to our commitment in our Plan for Change to slash waiting lists we inherited and reduce pressure on busy hospitals. A year ago, we promised to deliver two million more appointments. One year on, we have delivered more than five million extra.”

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust Chief Executive, Brent Kilmurray, said: “It was a pleasure to host Minister Dalton at the surgical hub and show her round the great new facilities we have here.

“The hub provides a nice, modern, calm environment away from the hustle and bustle of Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. There is significant additional capacity here in Dewsbury now and we can get more patients through treatment in a timely way.”

Bradley Arrowsmith, 30, from Wakefield, said about his care at the hub: “I can’t fault them at all… I’ve been well looked after… It’s brilliant what you are doing, absolutely brilliant!”

The surgical hub opened on 28 April 2025 with the first patients seen in the consulting outpatient rooms, and then in the operating theatres from 04 June 2025.

In the surgical hub there are ten outpatient clinic rooms, four treatment rooms for small procedures, and two operating theatres for patients requiring general anaesthetic. All patients are treated as day case patients, with no need for an overnight stay.

The surgical hub uses innovative pathways for some groups of patients, depending on the procedure they need, and introduces more 'one-stop' appointments, cutting down on the number of times patients need to attend hospital.

It also incorporates the latest technologies and equipment to ensure patients receive the best possible care.