New orthopaedic centre for north-west London is open
A new orthopaedic centre for north-west London is open.
The centre is for elective surgery, such as knee or hip replacements, and is run by the North-West London Acute Provider Collaborative, of which our Trust is a member.
It began work on Monday 4 December and was set up to bring together much of the routine, inpatient orthopaedic surgery for the population of north-west London in a purpose-designed, centre of excellence at Central Middlesex Hospital.
The opening is being phased, with an initial operating capacity of three theatres, increasing to five theatres at the end of February 2024.
During the initial three theatre phase, patients from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and London North-West University Healthcare NHS Trust.
Our patients will be admitted after the move to full five-theatre capacity. The short deferral is to allow our Trust’s recent adoption of the Cerner electronic patient records system to be implemented. This system allows for safe sharing of health records seamlessly across trusts. This is an essential element of the EOC (and all acute healthcare), allowing for the streamlining of referrals between trusts across a large geographical area.
All trusts agree the phased approach is essential to allowing new patient pathways to be safely and closely monitored, while ensuring that any operational issues can be resolved early, which will assist the progression to full theatre utilisation.
The EOC is managed by London North-West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH). Except for the surgeon performing the operation and their registrar, all staff based at the EOC are employed by LNWH. This includes ward medical cover and anaesthetic cover, which is also managed by LNWH.
The centre’s focus is on ‘high volume, low complexity’ bone and joint procedures, including knee and hip replacements. This will provide other hospitals in the Acute Provider Collaborative with increased capacity to focus on more complex orthopaedic procedures.
Patients will normally only attend the EOC on the day of their surgery. Their care will be overseen by the consultant from their local hospital, who will join them at Central Middlesex Hospital to do the surgery on the day. The rest of the patient’s care – before and after surgery – will take place at their local hospital, in their community, or online at home.
A key area of interest raised within the public consultation on the new facility was around travel times to Central Middlesex Hospital, journey complexity and costs. Following considered public engagement on the issue, a transport solution was agreed, and you can find full details on the EOC’s website here.