New Surgical Centre Opens at Central Middlesex Hospital
Hoped that it will reduce waiting list of over 16,000 orthopaedic patients
Centre's first patient David Wootton (holding scissors) does the honours
May 21, 2024
A new £9.4million centre for orthopaedic procedures has been opened at the Central Middlesex Hospital.
It has the capacity to treat 4,000 patients a year and it is hoped it will cut a local waiting list of more than 16,000 that has built up since the pandemic.
The North-West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (EOC) was officially opened by former secondary school teacher David Wootton who was the first patient to be treated at the centre in Central Middlesex Hospital at the start of its phased opening in December 2023.
The 72-year-old underwent a partial knee replacement in the morning and was on his way home to Acton later the same day.
The centre is one of the first major developments of the North West London Acute Provider Collaborative, a partnership of the four acute NHS trusts in the sector: London North West University Healthcare, Imperial College Healthcare, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and The Hillingdon Hospitals.
The centre brings together most ‘high volume, low complexity’ bone and joint procedures, such as knee and hip replacements, in north west London. This approach has been shown to improve quality and efficiency, enabling better care for more patients and freeing-up capacity in other hospitals to focus on more complex procedures where patients need more specialist care.
Matt Bartlett, Medical Director of the centre and an orthopaedic surgeon, said, “A similar model in south London has proved very successful. It is all about providing a faster more equitable service.
“Orthopaedic procedures involving bones and joints make up more than a quarter of all NHS operations, and we are working hard to reduce waiting lists.”
Patients’ pre-operative and post-operative care will remain in their local hospitals with their surgeons moving with their patients to carry out their procedures in the dedicated Centre.
Imperial College Healthcare consultant orthopaedic surgeon Ian Sinha said, We’re already finding that our new approach works really well for patients and for our clinical teams – it’s enabling greater collaboration and learning which will help us improve the quality of our care as well as reduce waiting lists.”
London North West University Healthcare CEO Pippa Nightingale added, “We need to be prepared for the future; if we did nothing, the number of people waiting for orthopaedic surgery in north west London would increase by almost a fifth by 2030.
“The EOC is therefore a game-changer and will particularly benefit older patients and those from more deprived backgrounds where musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common long-term health conditions.
“The EOC is the great result of four NHS trusts working together, across geographical boundaries, for the benefit of people right across north west London.”
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