YORK is to get a multimillion-pound new privately-run surgery centre which will slash waiting times for operations across North and East Yorkshire, and bring new jobs to the city.

The centre, one of a string being set up across England in a £200,000,000 investment by Swedish health care giant Capio, is expected to be up and running on the old Clifton Hospital laundry site by April next year.

It will perform a mixture of general and orthopaedic surgery such as hip and knee replacements, hernias and varicose veins, which all currently have waiting lists of around nine months in York.

Capio Healthcare UK will employ local NHS surgeons from York Hospital to treat around 2,000 extra NHS patients a year, working in two operating theatres with a recovery area and an 18-bedded unit. It should help reduce operation waiting times to no more than six months by 2005, and to three months by 2008.

Jim Easton, chief executive of York Hospitals NHS Trust, stressed it would not leave theatres at York Hospital understaffed.

"Surgeons have felt there was not always enough space or beds at York Hospital," said Mr Easton.

"The treatment centre's not a substitute for the work we're doing now, it's building upon our capacity and I think there's a real opportunity to do something really exciting for the community."

The treatment centre is a partnership between Selby and York, Scarborough, Whitby & Ryedale, and Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trusts (PCT), along with York Hospitals NHS Trust and Capio, which already has 21 private acute hospitals in the UK.

Jeremy Clough, chief executive of Selby and York Primary Care Trust, said: "We see this as an excellent opportunity to work jointly with colleagues in the NHS and the independent sector to provide the additional capacity required to meet the needs of our patients - particularly in the area of orthopaedics.

"The extra capacity will help us to make further progress in reducing the time patients wait for hospital treatment and enable us to offer patients greater choice in where they receive their surgery."

Edna Mulhearn, York branch secretary of public service union Unison, said there should be the capacity and funding within the NHS to avoid involving the private sector.

She said: "Unison believes that all treatment for patients should be within the national health and not hived off to the private sector.

"Speaking as a nurse myself and somebody who cares about patients, the reality of the situation at the moment is that if it would contribute to patients being seen quicker and not having to wait as long for operations, then I would not condemn it."

Resident Ray Thompson, who lives just off Shipton Road, worked at the laundry site for 30 years. He said: "It should be used. At the moment it's an eyesore.

"It would be nice to see something done with the place and it would create some jobs.

"I do not think it would cause problems on the road."

Updated: 10:36 Friday, May 14, 2004