East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust has been awarded £6.88 million in investment.

The money, which comes from the Department of Health and Social Care, will "increase the number of operations carried out every day" and buy new technology to improve efficiency.

Welwyn Garden City's New QEII Hospital and Stevenage's Lister Hospital will benefit from the investment.

Three new procedure rooms will be built in QEII and Lister Hospitals. This will "allow a greater number of simple procedures to take place during the day with no need for an overnight stay".

QEII patients will also benefit from a specialist digital system for the ophthalmology (eye specialist) service, which hopes to streamline processes.

A third surgical robot will be purchased for Lister Hospital, allowing certain complex procedures to be done with minimal invasion, with far quicker and less painful recovery times.

This means "less time in hospital and less scarring – and often a reduced need for follow-up chemotherapy".