About Tayside Orthopaedics

The department of trauma and orthopaedic surgery is based out of Ninewells Hospital in the City of Dundee, where we offer unscheduled trauma care as well as certain elective procedures. We also carry out primarily elective operating at both Perth Royal Infirmary in Perth, and Stracathro Hospital in Angus.

We are formed of a diverse team with a wide skillset, including but not limited to our surgical team, medical ward doctors, physical and occupational therapy teams, nursing staff, secretaries, and administrative staff. If you would like to learn more about our excellent team, please visit our ‘Our Team’ page.

Our service is varied, covering patients of different age groups and each with specific needs. We therefore work closely with other hospital specialists while providing patient care.

What is trauma surgery?

Trauma surgery in the United Kingdom is specifically concerned with any injury to the bones, joints, and/or soft tissue that is caused by an external source. These injuries are often resultant from sudden events such as falls or car accidents, but not always. There is a significant variety of body site and severity of injury that we deal with, however, our goal always remains the same - to restore function at the site of injury as safely and effectively as possible.

What is elective surgery?

Elective orthopaedic surgery is “planned surgery”. Primarily this represents replacements to joints (such as the hips, knees, and shoulders) for conditions such as osteoarthritis. This planned operating can also include, but is not limited to, procedures for deformity correction, ligament issues, and oncological surgery.

What are our aims?

Our primary aim is providing safe and effective patient care.

As a large teaching centre we also aim to train more junior colleagues. These “trainees” can range from our most junior doctors working on the wards during their Foundation Training years, all the way through to our senior Specialty Trainees who are about to become consultants themselves. Training is carried out in every public hospital in the United Kingdom, and it is always carried out safely and in accordance with strict national standards.

Our unit also carries out and publishes research within the field of trauma and orthopaedic surgery. We are home to the Tayside Orthopaedic Research Collaborative (T.O.R.C.) which helps to fund and promote research within Tayside. We also work to constantly improve our service through quality improvement initiatives.