The orthopaedic surgical team at Ninewells Hospital have returned to their specialist wards as NHS Tayside continues to step up services impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The surgery wards in Ninewells were designated as COVID-19 wards for most of the last two years and staff were moved to other orthopaedic and general areas to support the pandemic response.
As COVID activity has continued to decrease, the dedicated surgical COVID unit in Ward 17 has been stepped down, allowing the orthopaedic service to relocate back to Wards 17, 18 and 19.
This means that there are now more than 70 beds across the three wards and the Major Trauma Unit for orthopaedic patients.
It will resume carrying out major trauma surgery, urgent and complex elective surgery such as reconstructions and spinal operations.
This is in addition to procedures for more vulnerable patients such as those on dialysis or who have heart problems as the Ninewells service is starting to return to its pre-COVID activity.
With elective orthopaedic surgery also returning to Perth Royal Infirmary earlier in May and Stracathro orthopaedic services resuming in February, orthopaedics are now back up and running across all three acute hospitals in Tayside.
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Mr Ben Clift said, “We are really conscious that people have waited patiently as COVID has impacted on our services so our teams are delighted to return to these specialist facilities and have the full orthopaedic surgical service in place again.
“We are working hard to increase the number of procedures we can carry out and minimise the length of time people need to spend in hospital so that we can see as many patients as quickly as possible.”
While Chief Executive Professor Grant Archibald added, “We are continuing to work through our Remobilisation Plan to increase activity in our hospitals and communities. Having the orthopaedic surgical service back in all three sites is a major milestone in our step-up plans.
“Many of our orthopaedic staff have been working in different wards and specialties to support our COVID response over the past two years and I am very grateful to them all for the significant role they have played during a challenging time for the organisation. We owe them a lot.”
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