A NEW surgical centre that will perform around 4,000 orthopaedic procedures a year has officially opened.

It will help cut patient waiting lists in Ealing and the surrounding area.

The £9.4m North-West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Park Royal will help reduce a waiting list of more than 16,000 patients that has built up since the pandemic.

The centre was officially opened by former secondary school teacher David Wootton.

He was the first patient to be treated at the centre in Central Middlesex Hospital at the start of its phased opening in December 2023.

The 72-year-old underwent a partial knee replacement in the morning and was on his way home to Acton later the same day.

The centre is a major developments of the North West London Acute Provider Collaborative, a partnership of four NHS trusts: London North West University, Imperial College Healthcare, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and The Hillingdon Hospitals.

It brings together high volume, low complexity bone and joint procedures, such as knee and hip replacements.

This approach has been shown to improve quality and efficiency, enabling better care for more patients and freeing up capacity in other hospitals.

Matt Bartlett, medical director of the centre, 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.”

Pre-operative and post-operative care will remain in patients’ local hospitals. Their surgeons will move with the patients to operate in the dedicated centre.

London North West University Healthcare CEO Pippa Nightingale said: “We need to be prepared for the future. If we did nothing, the number of people waiting for orthopaedic surgery [here] 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 where Musculo-skeletal disorders are one of the most common long-term health conditions.”

More details on the website: NHS North West London Acute Provider Collaborative