Other Types Of Surgery

The department offers a wide range of other types of surgery such as shoulder surgery, spinal, foot and ankle, anterior cruciate ligament and paediatric surgery. Each person requiring this surgery is different with different problems and needs, and therefore it is not possible to generalise. Please speak with your consultant and ask any questions you wish when you are seen in the Outpatient Department. It is often useful to take a list of questions with you to remind you of what you wanted to ask.

Trauma

A lot of Orthopaedic treatment and care is as a result of the person having been involved in an accident, or some other reason that has resulted in them having an injury to a bone or joint. Each one of these will be treated individually; some may require the person to be admitted to hospital and staying on one of the wards for a period of time. Others may be treated as an outpatient and be seen in the clinics on a regular basis.

Fracture Clinic

Each Consultant holds weekly Fracture and Orthopaedic clinics.

There are normally two doctors present at each clinic – the Consultant and the Registrar, and patients are divided between the two of them. It is possible you may not be seen by the Consultant at each visit, but you will be seen by a member of his team. The names of the doctors that are in clinic are shown on the TV screen in the waiting area.

Infections

Preventing an infection for an orthopaedic patient is very important, which is why we ask you to clean your hands with the hand gel before entering or leaving any of the wards or departments. We also ask you to remind your visitors or people that attend appointments with you to do the same.

Before coming into hospital for planned surgery you will be screened for MRSA; this will happen at pre-assessment clinic and the staff will take swabs of your nose and groin. If you are an emergency admission you will be screened on admission to the ward.