A partnership that saw hundreds of NHS breast cancer surgeries carried out at a hospital near Lichfield during the pandemic has been commemorated.
Spire Little Aston carried out 550 urgent operations for the University Hospital Birmingham (UHB) Foundation Trust in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
The agreement saw a team of eight breast surgeons carry out life-saving operations on NHS patients at the Little Aston site.
Surgeon Vijay Ganesh, who is the UHB breast unit clinical governance lead, said:
“When coronavirus broke out and it became obvious that the NHS would be put under massive pressure, I had sleepless nights worrying about how cancer patients would get the treatments they needed.
“This agreement opened the doors of Spire Little Aston to our NHS patients, and it has meant their treatment was able to carry on uninterrupted.
“It has been a brilliant example of cooperation that I am proud to have been a part of.”
Vijay Ganesh
UHB consultant surgeons, Selina Bains and Naren Basu visited staff at the hospital and presented the teams involved in the partnership with a plaque to commemorate the important work completed during the pandemic.
Mr Basu said:
“The team at Spire Little Aston were unbelievable.
“They made the new surgeons welcome and took on the extra workloads and responsibilities without as much as a single hitch.
“The response from everyone at the hospital has been outstanding and feedback from the patients has been of the highest praise.”
Naren Basu
Victoria Morris, director of clinical services at Spire Little Aston, said:
“We’re very proud to have played our part during the peaks of the pandemic, keeping key services going and treating hundreds of patients with critical breast conditions.”
Victoria Morris
The partnership began in mid-2020 and eventually ended in March this year.
