'Truly wonderful' hospital unit ready for patients
BBCA £26.5m endoscopy unit is being hailed by doctors who are getting ready to welcome patients.
The building at Lincoln County Hospital opens in September, replacing a previous facility based in converted portable cabins that was more than 30 years old.
The new unit increases the number of rooms for the procedures, which use cameras inside patient's bodies to identify medical issues, including ulcers, inflammation and diseases such as cancer.
Dr Glenn Spencer, endoscopy lead for Lincolnshire, said the building was "truly wonderful".
Spencer added: "It's magnificent, isn't it? What a building.
"I never dreamed of something like this, I always hoped, but it's truly wonderful."
The facility has four rooms for procedures, one more than the previous building, with space for an additional two if future demand dictates.
Spencer said although there was no backlog for endoscopic services in Lincolnshire, demand for it was increasing by about 5% per year.
"More people now are being imaged with scans," he said.
"Things are found and then those things have to be identified as important or not."
Professor Karen Dunderdale, Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group chief executive, said: "Our endoscopy diagnostic services can help to detect cancer, so it is vital that we invest in these services to continue to be able to support our patients with fast and comfortable diagnostic services.
"This new unit will enable us to increase our diagnostic capacity, improve patient experience by offering even higher levels of patient privacy and provide a great working environment for our staff."
At the time the plans for the building were submitted in 2024, United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said roughly 65 patients per day were expected to be seen within the new unit, rising to 80 when the additional procedure rooms become operational.
Work to build the unit, situated on the edge of the hospital site just off St Anne's Road, started in January 2025.
The money for the building came from NHS England's Modernisation Fund.
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