The COVID-19 crisis has drastically changed the delivery of planned orthopaedic surgery. As we adjust to new ways of working, The National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) continues to support its member organisations and the wider orthopaedic provider community through its successful COVID-19 webinar series.
Launched during the peak of the pandemic in April, the NOA has hosted four webinars so far, each seeking to tackle various aspects of the challenge to deliver orthopaedic surgery during these extraordinary times.
The first webinar in April focused specifically on the experience of NOA member organisations transforming from elective orthopaedic providers to COVID-19 trauma centres, and featured speakers from our founder member organisations. Two weeks later, the second webinar supported discussions around the recovery of elective orthopaedic surgery post COVID-19 with speakers from centres including the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHSFT, South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre, North Bristol NHS Trust and East Suffolk and North Essex NHSFT
Next, the NOA gave attendees a four nations perspective on recovery planning for elective orthopaedic surgery and featured speakers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For our most recent session we partnered with the team at Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) to outline the role of the GIRFT programme in supporting the post-COVID recovery and transformation of elective surgery across London. GIRFT chair Professor Tim Briggs CBE, who is also the National Director of Clinical Improvement for the NHS, presented alongside GIRFT clinical ambassador for London Vinay Takwale and deputy national delivery director Graham Lomax.
Our next webinar, scheduled for 17 June, will look at the recovery of elective orthopaedic surgery from a patients’ perspective, and will feature speakers from Versus Arthritis, ESCAPE pain and North Bristol NHS Trust as well as a personal account from a patient who has had her surgery delayed due to the pandemic.
Cormac Kelly Consultant Upper Limb Surgeon at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust who assists with the facilitation of the webinar series said, “Through the NOA COVID-19 webinar series orthopaedic providers across the country have been able to come together to share their experiences of the pandemic. By working together, we can agree on a way forward to address the challenges we continue to face during these unprecedented times.”
Ann Hoey, NOA Deputy Director said, “We are really pleased with the success of the webinars so far. Attendee numbers are growing each week with over 200 people attending our last session. We are also delighted to have an average of 40 different organisations represented at each webinar which really adds to the depth of questions asked and discussions had.”
Attendee feedback from the webinars has been positive so far with participants stating that the sessions have been “very informative” and “a great meeting – as always!”
For details of all upcoming NOA webinars and events, visit our events page here. To express an interest in speaking at a future webinar, email info.noa@nhs.net