New Sulis Orthopaedic Centre Opens to Support NHS Patients and Reduce Waiting Times
On Tuesday 27 May, the state-of-the-art new specialist surgical centre officially opened alongside Sulis Hospital, offering a significant boost in elective orthopaedic surgical capacity for NHS patients across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW).
Sulis Orthopaedic Centre (SOC) will perform an additional 3,000 planned orthopaedic operations each year for suitable NHS patients.
This will help to significantly reduce waiting times for many patients awaiting such operations, which include life-changing hip and knee replacements.
Sulis Orthopaedic Centre is the result of a close collaboration between Sulis Hospital and three acute NHS hospitals in the BSW Hospitals Group: Great Western Hospital (GWH) NHS Foundation Trust in Swindon, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust.
Cara Charles-Barks, the Chief Executive of BSW Hospitals Group, said: "We are really pleased to see Sulis Orthopaedic Centre open its doors to patients across the BSW Hospitals Group. Not only will it make a real difference by reducing waiting times for orthopaedic surgery, but it will also help safeguard our services from the increase in demand that we expect to see in the future, due to the ageing population of the people we care for collectively.
"This is a shining example of how, by working together, we can transform patients' experiences."
One way in which the hospitals will work closely together is in the surgical teams. Patients' NHS consultant specialists will oversee care throughout and perform the operations, working alongside Sulis's own surgical and recovery teams. Patients will be cared for at Sulis immediately before and after their operations, but additional pre- and post-operative appointments will take place at their local NHS hospital. This means they will only need to travel for the operation itself.
Simon Milner, Hospital Director at Sulis Hospital, said: "The opening of Sulis Orthopaedic Centre, situated next to Sulis Hospital, marks a significant and much-anticipated milestone. At Sulis, we're proud to reaffirm our commitment to increase capacity and improve access to high-quality, year-round elective orthopaedic care for NHS patients across BSW. Working in partnership with the NHS enables us to give back to the local community in meaningful ways and we're excited to pioneer a new, collaborative approach to healthcare that benefits everyone."
The Sulis Orthopaedic Centre builds on an existing, successful working relationship between the RUH and Sulis Hospital. The two hospitals formed an official partnership in June 2021 and have been working together closely for the benefit of NHS patients ever since. In April 2024 - March 2025, 750 operations were performed for NHS patients being treated at the RUH, using Sulis' surgical theatres.
The opening of Sulis Orthopaedic Centre creates even more capacity for NHS patients, enabling thousands more people to return to a better quality of life sooner than before. It will also help support the government's targets for reducing NHS waiting lists for elective surgery.
We're proud to support the NHS in meeting increasing demand and reducing waiting lists while ensuring patients across BSW receive timely, life-changing treatment.
To discover more about the services available at the Sulis Orthopaedic Centre, please click here.
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