Dept of Health NHS info Health stats GLAD NHS Direct External sites will appear in a new window. Newsquest accepts no responsibility for their content. The new hyperbaric unit boasts the UK's most advanced equipment with a submarine-style chamber that seats eight people. It is used for treating divers with the bends in decompression chambers but it can also be used for accelerated healing.
Patients sit in the chamber and pressure levels are increased by up to five times normal.
The patient is then fed oxygen, which can be absorbed more quickly into the blood. Users are said to suffer no ill effects from the treatment, although some feel their ears pop as the pressure increases and decreases as they would when travelling by aeroplane. A diver from Eastbourne was rushed to the hospital on Sunday at 10pm and was treated in the chamber until 3.40am. He underwent further treatment from 3pm to 5pm on Monday, soon after the official opening of the unit had concluded. For almost 30 years, Whipps Cross has led the NHS as one of the pioneers of hyperbaric medicine and health officials claim it is fitting that the new unit will see the hospital move into the 21st century.