ISTCs help Consultants to develop
Nick Gillham is a Consultant Orthopaedic
Surgeon at Horton Treatment Centre, in Banbury. Nick had been
practising in the NHS for over 12 years before he was seconded to
the new treatment centre, on the site of Horton General Hospital,
in 2005.
“ISTCs were very much an unknown when I was
first asked to get involved. But if you were asked if you
would like a new, purpose-built unit, with unlimited capacity,
would you say no?
Since the day we opened, the unit has gone
from strength to strength. My colleagues and I have up to 30
operating lists a week, and have never cancelled a case for lack of
a bed or if a list over-runs. And all staff smile!
A key reason for our success is that
Consultants have genuine managerial influence in an organisation
that wants to excel. Consultants run their own lists, so we
can plan how to most efficiently handle our workloads. I
personally get through 25% more cases then when my list was booked
for me. Not surprisingly my waiting list is short!
I have also been able to develop my practise.
As my waiting time has come down, so my referrals have gone
up - and the complexity of my case load has soared. My upper
limb joint replacement practise has exploded. In just three
years I have performed close to 100 replacements of the wrist
and/or distal ulna, over 300 thumb joint replacements, and numerous
other replacements of finger joints, elbows, shoulders ankles and
big toe joints.
The practise is so large that I am now a
reference centre for several of these joints and have rival
manufacturers vying for my attention and to use their products.
I am actively involved in prosthesis design and teaching
visiting surgeons and running cadaver courses. We have been
chosen to trial new developments around the wrist, and performed
the first joint replacement for trauma in the wrist outside the
USA.
And my colleagues could give a similar story
for hips and knees.
One of my colleagues planned to retired at 60,
but changed his mind as “the treatment centre is the best thing in
my whole NHS career - I am doing the best and happiest work of my
Consultant life.”
There is no doubt that we have been given a privileged
environment in which to work. Long may it continue.
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