The Shoulder and Elbow Service is one shining example of teams coming together to share their expertise to improve patient care. Since the creation of the new Trust, colleagues at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Trafford General Hospital have worked with the Transformation team to jointly develop a vision and a plan for a one-stop service.
Patients will be able to see an Orthopaedic surgeon, Radiologist and Physiotherapist during one visit, avoiding the need for multiple appointments. In some cases, treatment will be able to begin on the same day rather than waiting for further appointments, results and referrals.
Mr Bibhas Roy, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Trafford General Hospital, said: “Patients come to one clinic and get an answer and in some cases even treatment that day. That’s huge. This approach not only avoids delays by cutting the number of clinic visits, but also provides the expertise from a team of professionals improving the quality of care.”
Mr Chris Peach, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Wythenshawe Hospital, said “Because of the merger, we’ve been able to pool our resources to improve the quality of healthcare for our patients. We want to provide much quicker treatment and reduce unnecessary appointments for our patients.”
The teams have also developed a vision to introduce virtual clinics and expand patient access to an innovative virtual physiotherapy system based on gamification of exercises – exergames – developed by the Trafford team and funded through the Transform Together charitable fund. This tracks patients’ exercises on a laptop at home.