A new knee and back home for ‘a starter for ten…’
“I think they were slightly anxious I wasn’t going to show up,” laughed David Wootton, who became the first patient to be treated at the newly opened North West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (EOC) at Central Middlesex Hospital.
The 72-year-old underwent a partial knee replacement in the morning and was on his way home to Acton later the same day as part of the new fast-track service that will perform thousands of orthopaedic procedures a year.
The former secondary school teacher’s most pressing concern was getting back in time to watch his favourite TV shows - University Challenge and Mastermind - that evening.
Orthopaedic surgeons Ian Sinha and Daniel Hay duly obliged ensuring David was home in time to answer his ‘starter for ten.'
The two doctors from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust worked alongside an LNWH theatre team showing how the NHS is working together to improve access to care.
The £9.4m EOC is a partnership between LNWH, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
It focuses on ‘high volume, low complexity’ bone and joint procedures, such as knee and hip replacements, allowing other hospitals across the area to perform more complex procedures where patients need more specific care.
David added: “My knees have been troubling me for several years and when I saw a consultant this November he confirmed that I needed two replacements.
“I was expecting to wait at least 18 months so when they said I could have the first procedure within a month I was delighted. I have always enjoyed walking and cycling so look forward to getting back in the saddle.”
David is no stranger to Central Middlesex. He was born in the hospital and his grandfather worked there as a heating engineer.
“I feel quite privileged to be the EOC’s guinea pig and they have already confirmed the other knee will be done in a few months.”
The EOC will eventually include two new operating theatres and a larger recovery unit through remodelling part of the existing hospital site.
It will help reduce a waiting list of several thousand patients that has built up across the nine hospital sites in north-west London.
Patients’ pre and post-operative care will remain at their local hospitals, with their surgeons travelling to the EOC to undertake their procedures.
(Photo credit: Cathy Wren)