Elective (planned) inpatient orthopaedic surgery in Lanarkshire will be based at the new, state-of-the-art University Hospital Monklands when it opens around 2028.
The Board of NHS Lanarkshire today (20 Dec) approved the preferred option to relocate the service to the new hospital, to be built at Wester Moffat on the outskirts of Airdrie.
Elective orthopaedics, currently provided primarily at University Hospital Hairmyres (UHH) in East Kilbride, is planned surgery to replace the main bony joints, such as hip, knee and shoulders, and for repairs to the associated tissue.
The decision follows an extensive process of stakeholder engagement in August and September, which sought feedback on the preferred option, proposed by the health board’s Corporate Management Team.
Orthopaedic outpatient care will still be available at Lanarkshire’s three acute hospitals and the decision does not affect the orthopaedic trauma service at University Hospital Wishaw.
Neena Mahal, Chair of the Board of NHS Lanarkshire, said: “I would like to thank all those stakeholders who took part in the engagement process, including the public, orthopaedic patients and their families, staff from NHS Lanarkshire and health & social care partnerships, elected representatives and other members of the community.
“All of their valuable feedback, which included nearly 400 responses to a survey, was detailed in an engagement report to inform the Board’s decision-making, alongside other information such as an integrated equality and inequality impact assessment and a carbon impact analysis.”
NHS Lanarkshire medical director Dr Jane Burns explained: “Most of our current elective orthopaedic surgery takes place at University Hospital Hairmyres. Additional capacity is provided by the NHS Golden Jubilee National Hospital and independent hospitals, with shoulder and upper body orthopaedic surgery carried out University Hospital Wishaw.”
Jane said there was broad clinical support from NHS Lanarkshire’s orthopaedic team for the move and outlined a number of benefits to having a state-of-the-art elective (planned) orthopaedic unit within the ultra-modern new hospital:
- Purpose-built wards and theatres will allow for higher productivity and improved rehabilitation, reducing patients’ length of stay and improving their experience;
- Single-room accommodation for post-operative orthopaedic patients is the “gold standard” for infection prevention and control.
- UHH can’t accommodate all current elective activity with a significant proportion being carried out in the independent sector. There will be no inpatient and theatre capacity to accommodate future growth there;
- Future demand for surgery will increase as the population ages and life expectancy increases, and so this “gap” will increase;
- This development will allow the orthopaedic team to grow by eliminating the need for independent sector orthopaedic capacity.
Jane stressed there would also be positives for Hairmyres.
She said: “We’ll have the opportunity to improve other services by using the vacated ward, theatre and clinics. This could include bringing other independent sector surgery back to Lanarkshire and the continued development of the new vascular surgery service.
“The exact nature of this will be determined through the development of our new healthcare strategy, Our Health Together, through 2022.”
Director of planning, property & performance Colin Lauder said: “While a journey to hospital for elective orthopaedic surgery should be a ‘one-off’ experience for the majority of patients, we recognise from the feedback that travel and transport is a key issue.
“Public transport infrastructure is at the heart of the Monklands Replacement Project, to ensure necessary improvements are made for the benefit of communities across Lanarkshire. The planned East Airdrie Link Road will provide enhanced access to Wester Moffat.”
Colin added: “An outline business case for the new hospital is being developed and is expected to be submitted for approval to the Scottish Government in 2022. This decision allows us to include the requirements for building and staffing the operating theatres, wards and other facilities needed for an orthopaedic unit.”
