King's Mill Hospital is one of best in the country for emergency bowel surgery

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has proven to be one of the best performing trusts in the country when it comes to carrying out the surgery, according to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit.

An emergency laparotomy (emergency bowel surgery) is a surgical operation for patients, often with severe abdominal pain, to find the cause of the problem and treat it.

Emergency bowel surgery can be carried out to clear a bowel obstruction, close a bowel perforation and stop bleeding in the abdomen, or to treat complications of previous surgery. These conditions could be life-threatening.

The audit results look across a large number of key metrics to assess how well these patients are being treated at all acute trusts across the country.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals’ medical director David Selwyn said: “The figures from the audit show that we are delivering the best care in the East Midlands to our patients.

“This is all thanks to the effort, dedication and skills of the whole team across Sherwood Forest Hospitals, from the admission of a patient, to a quick diagnosis and the early intervention of different teams. These results reflect a whole pathway approach to how we identify, prepare for, operate and help the recovery of patients who need this care.

“Thank you to everyone at Sherwood Forest Hospitals who has been involved in achieving this.”