Trauma and Orthopaedics

The Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery provides specialist musculo-skeletal care in conjunction with the Rheumatology, Physiotherapy, Radiology and Pediatrics departments.

It is supported by the Academic department under the leadership of Professor Damian Griffin at the University of Warwick.

There is a team of 30 Orthopaedic and Trauma Consultants supported by Clinical Fellows, Specialist Registrars, Associate Specialist and Staff grades.

We are a level three Major Trauma Centre with a dedicated team of consultants who only focus on trauma care.

There are also sub specialties within orthopedics such as complex trauma, revision arthroplasty and hand and wrist.

We consistently recruit large numbers of patients to trauma trials and have been the UK’s top recruiter to these trials.

Foot and Ankle: We treat common problems such as Plantar Fasciitis, Morton's Neuroma, arthritis of the foot and we provide extra-corporal shockwave therapy. We have an in-house orthotics department to ensure the correct splints are custom made in a timely manner and frequently they have clinics that integrate physiotherapy, orthotics and a foot and ankle surgeon to provide a smoother patient journey.

Hand and Wrist: We treat the common chronic conditions such as carpal tunnel, trigger finger, ganglia, Dupuytren’s contracture and basal thumb arthritis. In addition, we offer more complex assessments for wrist instability.

We are a tertiary referral centre for complex wrist conditions that would need to be treated both by open surgery as well as arthroscopy, and we have a hand therapy led virtual carpal tunnel assessment clinic.  The majority of surgical procedures are performed as day case procedures, and we now offer endoscopic carpel tunnel surgery..

There is a dedicated hand unit to deal with hand trauma, with a dedicated hand surgeon on call 24 hours a day.

Hip and Pelvis: Again, we offer a tertiary referral service for complex pelvic trauma. In addition to that, we deal with hip fractures, hip fracture surgery, and we have a dedicated team for complex primary joint replacements as well as revision arthroplasty.

Separate soft tissue knee section: We have a dedicated research unit leading the way in meniscal transplant procedures. We also do arthroscopic surgery for meniscal injuries and deal with anterior cruciate ligament injuries, as well as complex multi-ligament knee instability.

Paediatrics: We have a dedicated paediatric team who cover all our paediatric trauma to make sure patients are seen by specialists with an expertise in dealing with children or skeletally immature individuals.  The department offers a service for treatingcongenital dislocations of the hip and other common non-trauma paediatric orthopaedic conditions. We also have a high-tech video gate lab for assessing people with spasticity or cerebral palsy.

Shoulder and elbow: We’ve got a dedicated shoulder and elbow team dealing with complex shoulder trauma that can’t be dealt with by a generalist trauma surgeon. We deal with shoulder impingement, shoulder arthritis and we have expertise in shoulder replacement.

Spine: We’re a major trauma center and deal with complex spinal injuries, with a team of neurosurgeons and orthopaedic spine surgeons working together. In addition to that, they also deal with common spinal issues such as arthritis of the spine and slipped discs.

Elective practice and day surgery is concentrated at University Hospital, Coventry, and the Hospital of St Cross, Rugby. Emergency trauma care is managed at University Hospital.

Extended Scope Physiotherapists work under a consultant where perhaps more time is needed with a physiotherapist than a doctor.

Each month staff from the prosthetic limb-fitting service in Birmingham hold a satellite clinic here.

We also have a whole department who are involved in putting plasters on and splints, and our hand therapy team make splints out of a special type of moldable plastic that they heat up and customize to an individual’s specific needs.

In 2020 we launched a virtual fracture clinic where people with relatively minor injuries could get the information and advice they needed without having to come to hospital.

Information coming soon. 

Day case surgery at University Hospital:
Day case surgery at Hospital of St Cross:

Please visit the Did We get it Right? page.

• Foot and ankle (opens in new window)
• Hand and wrist (opens in new window)
• Hip and pelvis (opens in new window)
• Knee (opens in new window)
• Paediatrics (opens in new window)
• Shoulders and elbow (opens in new window)
• Spine (opens in new window)
• Plaster Cast advice (opens in new window)
• Wound Management (opens in new window)
• Virtual Fracture Clinic

UHCW Hand Centre