Trauma and Orthopaedic services

The team specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions in the muscles, bones and joints.

Trauma deals with the diagnosis of injuries caused by accidents to bones, muscles and joints, whilst orthopaedics investigates and treats abnormal conditions affecting bones, ligaments, tendons muscles and joints. All age groups can be seen in the department.

The team is separated into three specialist areas:

Upper Limb

This team specialises in with problems in the arm (This includes the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand and surrounding soft tissue structures).

Lower Limb

This team specialises in with problems in the leg (This includes the hip, knee, ankle, foot and surrounding soft tissue structures).

Spinal

This team specialises in with problems in the spine (This includes the neck, middle/lower back and sacroiliac joints)

A multi-disciplinary service

All of our teams work as a multi-disciplinary service, utilising the specialist skills and knowledge from a variety of different professionals to ensure we offer a holistic approach to patient care which aims provide the most appropriate and effective surgical and non-surgical intervention.

How do I access this service?

Referrals are accepted from GPs, Hospital Consultants and some specialised professionals through the Community Assessment Triage Service (CATS).

Key Contacts

New Patient Appointments: 01702 385244

Follow-up Appointment: 01702 435555 ext 6543

General Enquiries: 01702 435555 ext 6543

About the service

Orthopaedic outpatient clinics are held at Basildon University Hospital and at Orsett Hospital. Inpatient services are centralised at Basildon Hospital.

Clinics

Orthopaedic outpatient clinics

Adult patients are seen most commonly with back problems, degenerative disease of the joints (especially hips and knees), and less severe orthopaedic conditions such as nerve entrapment syndrome and internal derangement of the knee. 

Trauma clinics

Trauma clinics are held at Basildon Hospital for emergency trauma referrals.

Paediatric orthopaedic clinics

For children with gait problems, dislocated hips, clubfeet, cerebral palsy and other conditions.

COMBAT Team

COMBAT provides acute care for patients with hip and knee replacements in their own home:

Home visits prior to hospital admission to assess the patient prior to admission to ensure that support services are in place as soon as the patient is fit for discharge

Support and advice - anything from environmental assessments to meals-on-wheels and specialist equipment

Orthopaedics services exist in order to provide high quality orthopaedic care for people with trauma and orthopaedic related problems by providing inpatient and outpatient services. 

Contact Details

MEHT Orthopaedic Services, Court Road, Broomfield, Chelmsford, CM1 7ET

MEHT Orthopaedic liaison service, Court Road, Broomfield, Chelmsford, CM1 7ET 

Referrals to this department should be made only by health professionals, and should be sent to:

MEHT Mid Essex Referrals Centre, Broomfield Hospital, Pudding Woods Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 7ET.

Eight consultants specialise in specific areas of orthopaedics as well as being experienced in general orthopaedic work.

Broomfield Orthopaedic Virtual Fracture Clinic

The Orthopaedic Virtual fracture clinic commenced at Broomfield in July 2020. We have designed this Virtual Fracture Clinic to be a patient focused alternative to our previous fracture clinics. Virtual Fracture clinics have been successfully established and are widely used throughout the United Kingdom. By treating you in the virtual fracture clinic we can ensure that you get the most appropriate treatment as quickly as possible, but also it means we can reduce the number of unnecessary visits to our hospital.

For more information, visit our orthopaedic virtual fracture clinic page.

Orthopaedic liaison service 

The Orthopaedic liaison service has been running for over 5 years, following a successful pilot project, which looked at hip replacements for one consultant. 

The other orthopaedic consultants have gradually asked for our involvement and we now work for all eight. The team consists of one full time senior sister, a full-time and a part-time sister. The team has an administration clerk for 12 hours a week. There are infinite possibilities to expand to include trauma patients plus other major orthopaedic surgery patients.

Pre-operative home visits  

We visit the patient at home approximately one week before the pre-assessment Clinic appointment with the Consultant.

The integrated care pathway is commenced at this point.

A full medical history is taken and blood pressure and pulse recorded.

The skin is checked for ulceration or infected areas. Pedal pulses are checked. Routine Blood samples are taken. Swabs are taken for MRSA and a urine sample taken.

Medication is recorded. At this point any patients who seem unfit or inappropriate for surgery are brought to the attention of the Consultant.

The proposed surgery is discussed and sensible coping strategies put in place for the post-operative recovery period.

The home environment is checked to ensure it is safe for the post-operative recovery period. The bed, chair and toilet heights are measured. The side of the bath is measured if the patient has to stand in the bath to use the shower. The kitchen is checked and suggestions made to make preparing meals easier i.e. moving pans up from low cupboards.

Prior to the commencement of the scheme, the nurses spent with both the Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapy staff to learn some basic assessment skills. Time was also spent in the various consultant clinics learning how to assess the criteria for surgery. Postoperative assessment skills were also learnt.

SOS visits

The patients are given contact numbers for the team and the ward so they can call if they experience any post-operative problems. We provide a post-op SOS visiting service and have a fast track system in place for re-admission to hospital, to avoid long waits in A&E. We also can expedite clinic appointments if we feel the patient needs immediate review.

We also accept requests from the local GPs who quite often seek our opinion. The team now provides support at home for patients with minor wound healing problems so this should not delay discharge home.

The team will visit patients who are on the waiting list for surgery but experiencing difficulties, to assess their symptoms, offer advice and report back to the Consultants.

Orthopaedic appliances

A follow-up service is provided for patients in hip hinges. Skin care is given and brace liners are changed on a regular basis depending on skin condition. Advice is given to district nurses and GPs re care. We accept referrals from any source. 

Six week post-operative follow-up visit

At this point we will visit you at home to complete an assessment form. The areas covered are: 

Circulation oedema/ DVT

Wound well healed/ inflammation/ heat signs of infection

Mobility exercises/ walking aids, gait, range of movement, distance (compared to pre-op), weight bearing

Muscle tone

Home circumstances and ability to cope with daily activities

Pain controlled site and type, analgesia required

Mental status- well adjusted/depressed/pleased with progress 

Advice given-driving, sleeping on side, etc sensible goals for next 6 weeks 

Hip and knee club 

We run a waiting list group for patients who have problems with hips and knees. The patients are invited to attend a session after they have been on the list about 3 - 4 months.

They can have a guided tour of the ward, and meet other joint replacement patients who have had their surgery. Some a few days post-op others fully recovered and back to good mobility.

We give a brief session on what the joint replacements look like and what to expect from the new joint. If there are any tests that you need prior to your operation we can arrange for them to be done at this appointment. The nurses will examine you to make sure you are fit to have your operation. It is really important where possible that you have no unhealed leg ulcers or infected toenails as these will delay your surgery due to the risk of infection.

The physiotherapists give out the exercise sheets and encourage the patients to try to strengthen their muscles before they are admitted. The nurses suggest what equipment and aids might be of use.

Spinal support group

We run a support group on a monthly basis for patients awaiting spinal surgery.

The aim of these sessions give patients as much information as we can regarding their journey so far and what they can realistically expect following their surgery.

Our chronic pain nurse specialist talks to them about chronic pain and how it can affect their lives.

The physiotherapist gives them some information regarding what they should be able to do following surgery and what they must not do. She also discusses the importance of posture and muscle control.

We give the patient an idea of what to expect during their admission to the ward and also about the liaison nurse visit to their house before and after their surgery.

The meeting concludes with a discussion session when we endeavour to answer questions that may be concerning the patient. 

Pre-assessment blood/swab results

All the results are sent to our office so they are checked and any referrals made or treatment commenced. Any unfit patients are referred to anaesthetic clinic or to the medics. If you need any treatment before your operation we will contact you.