Darwin Group hire theatre takes first patients at Hereford County Hospital

Hereford County Hospital has carried out its first operations in a new theatre that Darwin Group built mostly in its factory and is supplying to Wye Valley NHS Trust under a hire agreement.

Darwin Group said the On-Demand Ultraclean Operating Theatre began procedures on 5 October 2026 and started caesarean procedures on 20 October 2026. It will be used for planned gynaecology and obstetric procedures and general surgery.

More than 90% of the theatre was built at Darwin Group's manufacturing facility before it was transported to the hospital for final installation, the company said. Factory manufacture, it said, streamlined construction, accelerated delivery and minimised disruption to the hospital's day-to-day operations.

Alan Dawson, chief strategy and planning officer at Wye Valley Trust, said: "By increasing our theatre capacity, we will be able to treat more patients locally, reduce waiting times and improve access to important surgical procedures."

He said the theatre would be particularly beneficial for patients needing elective caesarean sections and planned gynaecology procedures.

The timeline

Herefordshire Council's planning record fills in the programme the release does not give. The application, reference P261213/F, was received on 23 April 2026. The council's application detail page gives the decision, an approval with conditions, as 8 July 2026.

The theatre was therefore treating patients about three months after approval and roughly five and a half months after the application was submitted. The agent on the application was Portakabin Limited, with an address in Cardiff.

Darwin Group's release does not state the project cost or how it is funded.

The hire model

Darwin Group markets its On-Demand theatres as permanent-grade buildings available to hire, with no third-party financing required. It says they are built with concrete floors to HBN and HTM compliant standards, and that it can deliver On-Demand facilities "in weeks, not years".

The company has specialised exclusively in offsite healthcare construction since 2019. It linked the Hereford project to the Government's 10-Year Health Plan, saying modern methods of construction (MMC) can help the NHS respond to growing demand for services.

James Pearson, managing director at Darwin Group, said: "Knowing that the facility has already supported the arrival of its first baby makes this milestone even more special." He said the theatre would make a difference to maternity services in Herefordshire over the coming years.

The hospital's theatre capacity

The new building adds to a main theatre department at Hereford County Hospital that, according to the trust, has seven operating theatre suites for emergency and elective surgery. The trust says its theatre team carries out more than 13,000 operations a year for inpatients and day surgery patients.

The hospital site also has a purpose-built Day Case Surgical Unit, built by Speller Metcalfe at a cost of £21m. The trust announced in September 2024 that the unit had opened and was receiving patients, and its current ward page says the unit has three dedicated theatres, including a cataract theatre.

At the time, Dawson said the day case unit would be run so that it was not affected by sudden pressures.

The On-Demand theatre has been in use for caesarean procedures since 20 October 2026.