A surgical centre that can perform up to 4,000 orthopaedic operations a year is set to cut waiting lists.
The newly built North-West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre located at the Central Middlesex Hospital will help decrease a lengthy waiting list of more than 16,000 patients.
The £9.4 million centre carried out its first procedures in December 2023 at the start of its phased opening.
The first patient to be treated was David Wootton, a retired teacher, who underwent a partial knee replacement and was able to go home on the same day.
The centre is a milestone project of the North West London Acute Provider Collaborative, a partnership of the four acute NHS trusts in the sector: Imperial College Healthcare, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London North West University Healthcare, and The Hillingdon Hospitals.
The centre's primary focus will be on 'high volume, low complexity' procedures such as hip and knee replacements.
Medical director Matt Bartlett said: "A similar model in south London has proved very successful.
"It is all about providing a faster, more equitable service.
"Orthopaedic procedures involving bones and joints make up more than a quarter of all NHS operations, and we are working hard to reduce waiting lists."
Most pre-operative and post-operative care will remain in the patients' local hospitals, with surgeons moving to the new centre to perform the necessary procedures.
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Ian Sinha, from Imperial College Healthcare, said: "We’re already finding that our new approach works really well for patients and for our clinical teams - it’s enabling greater collaboration and learning which will help us improve the quality of our care as well as reduce waiting lists."
London North West University Healthcare CEO Pippa Nightingale added: "We need to be prepared for the future; if we did nothing, the number of people waiting for orthopaedic surgery in north west London would increase by almost a fifth by 2030.
"The EOC is therefore a game-changer and will particularly benefit older patients and those from more deprived backgrounds."
More information about the centre is available on the NHS North West London Acute Provider Collaborative website.
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