A PIONEERING new approach at the Hospital of St Cross in Rugby is speeding up treatment for hip and knee replacement patients – thanks to a £39,000 donation from the Friends of St Cross charity.
A number of teams and services at the hospital have joined forces to form the Rugby Ambulatory Orthopaedic Service (RAOS), to help the patients to be cared for more quickly, safely and efficiently.
Additional pre-op clinics have been organised in Outpatients to assess patients, undertake blood tests and X-rays, provide information and obtain consent.
On the day of surgery, hip and knee replacement patients now have access to the Cedar Ambulatory Recovery Unit.
The unit comprises 10 new trolleys funded by the Friends of St Cross, to easily move patients between the ward, theatres and X-ray.
As a dedicated area for Orthopaedics, the unit supports patients to be promptly discharged when appropriate instead of remaining in hospital.
Two of the first to benefit from the RAOS were hip replacement patients Nick Payne and David Kell from Coventry, who were able to return home on the same day following successful surgeries.
Mr Payne said: “The care and communication I received throughout the day was really good and I was so pleased to be able to go home on the same day.
“No one wants to be in hospital longer than they have to and it was nice to be able to recover in familiar surroundings.”
Mr Kell added: “I was put instantly at ease and the follow-up care and advice has been fantastic. My hip is getting stronger by the day and this surgery will give me a new lease of life.”
The RAOS impressed NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme team during the hospital’s recent accreditation as an elective surgical hub for high standards of clinical and operational practice.
Professor Richard King, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, said: “The RAOS represents a major step forward in the way we provide hip and knee replacements.
“This is brilliant news for us and for our patients. The feedback has been hugely positive so far and we are confident the service will continue to go from strength to strength.”
Doug Jones, Chair of The Friends of St Cross, said: “It has been brilliant to see the transformation of the service and for our donation to be used to such great effect.
“The demonstration also gave me a preview of the procedure that I was to have successfully completed. Although this happened prior to the implementation of the RAOS, I was still back home on the following day.”
