On Wednesday 15 April 2026, the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) vascular hub will be relocating from Bedford Hospital to Luton and Dunstable University Hospital (L&D).

The new Vascular Centre will feature two state‑of‑the‑art hybrid operating theatres, providing facilities for both open and endovascular surgery.

Modern vascular surgery increasingly relies on a combination of traditional open techniques and minimally invasive endovascular procedures. The new hybrid theatres integrate advanced, high‑resolution imaging systems within a fully equipped surgical environment, enabling clinicians to switch seamlessly between approaches during the same operation.

Key benefits for patients:

  • Better theatre and imaging facilities will improve the quality of treatments and have shorter operative times, which in turn will improve patient outcomes
  • Modern machines have inbuilt radiation reduction protocols which provides further protection to patient and staff from harmful radiation
  • Enhanced access to high-qualitycare by a small volume of specialist staff
  • Improved patient outcomes, increased patient satisfaction, shorter length of stay and reduction in readmission rate
  • Opportunities for closer integration with co-located interdependent services such as the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU)
  • Increase overall operating theatre capacity for Bedfordshire residents resulting in reduced waiting times for vascular procedures across BLMK and creating additional theatre availability at Bedford Hospital for other surgical specialties, improving access for patients local to Bedford.

Key benefits for staff:  

  • Hybrid theatre provision and fit for purpose Vascular Interventional Radiology (VIR) facilities – co-located in a theatre environment to facilitate high level of integration of the vascular and IR clinicians and an integrated team of specialist support / technical staff (including interventional radiographers)
  • Attract and retain high quality specialist clinical staff
  • Allow the team to develop new services
  • Service and workforce resilience – the concentration of the wider clinical team with other acute interdependent services onto the L&D site should mean greater resilience for the service
  • Fully compliant with national guidance from Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) and the Vascular Society

From 15 April, all major vascular surgery, vascular interventional radiology procedures, and emergency or planned vascular admissions will take place at the L&D. In‑patients will be cared for on Ward 20, located adjacent to a newly refurbished area that will house the vascular outpatient clinic and a new vascular laboratory.

Most outpatient appointments, diagnostics, and minor procedures – including varicose vein surgery – will continue to be delivered at patients’ local hospitals in Bedford, Milton Keynes, or Luton.

The new centre will be staffed by an expanded multidisciplinary team, including 10 vascular and endovascular surgeons, an associate specialist, two specialist trainees, four senior clinical fellows and four specialist nurses.

As part of the service redesign, the vascular team has worked closely with colleagues across the network to streamline pathways and introduce new services. These include a Limb Salvage Clinic, a one‑stop service for patients with critical limb‑threatening ischaemia, and a forthcoming one‑stop chronic wound care clinic.

This investment represents a major step forward in delivering high‑quality, modern vascular care for the BLMK population.