| Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre | |
| Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public NHS |
| Hospital type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | No Accident & Emergency |
| Speciality | Orthopaedics |
| History | |
| Founded | 1872 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.noc.nhs.uk/ |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC) is an internationally recognised centre of excellence, providing care for patients with disabling or long-term musculoskeletal conditions and those suffering neurological disability. It provides routine and specialist orthopaedic and rheumatological services to the people of Oxfordshire. Specialist services, such as the treatment of Osteomyelitis and bone tumours, and the rehabilitation of those with limb amputation or congenital deficiency, and those with neurological disabilities are provided for patients from across the UK and abroad.
Each year, more than 20,000 people are referred to the hospital with a range of conditions affecting bones and joints, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, bone infection and bone cancer. Patients needing a new hip, shoulder or knee, or those with severe back pain or sports injuries are just some of the conditions treated on a regular basis. Specialist services include children’s rheumatology services, limb reconstruction, spinal surgery and the treatment of primary malignant bone tumours and sarcomas.
The NOC also undertakes innovative rehabilitation work to assist those who have lost limbs, suffered a deformity, or who have neurological and neuromuscular problems through, for example, stroke or head injury at its renowned Oxford Centre for Enablement (OCE).
This modern, purpose-built hospital enables clinicians to deliver exceptional patient safety and infection control standards maintaining its reputation for having among the lowest hospital acquired infection rates in the country.
The NOC has excellent infection prevention and control rates.
As a teaching hospital NHS Trust, the NOC provides a large number of placements and fellowships for student doctors,
Contents |
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre is internationally famous for its work in a range of important services and attracts patients from a wide area. It began in 1871 as the Wingfield Convalescent Centre. During the First World War it was a military hospital and was expanded by building a fresh air annexe of wooden buildings.
By 1929 the Wingfield Morris Hospital badly needed rebuilding and Lord Nuffield, then Sir William Morris, donated £70,000 to build new nurses' quarters, seven new wards and a massage department. In 1936 Lord Nuffield announced his gift to Oxford Medical School which created five clinical chairs, and Professor G. R. Girdlestone became the first Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1938.
During the Second World War the hospital was controlled by the War Office. In 1948 it was designated as a regional orthopaedic centre and in 1956 it was re-named the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. From his appointment in 1966, Robert Duthie led the centre, establishing its prestige and international reputation. He championed its independence and from the 1st April 1991 the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre has been an NHS Trust hospital.[1]
The NOC has a long-standing reputation in research and development, and teaching and training with excellent facilities on site. It works closely with university partners, and the University of Oxford has its Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences located within the hospital – it is the largest academic clinical department in orthopaedics in the UK.
The Botnar Research Centre based in the grounds of the NOC provides a unique opportunity for university researchers to work alongside clinicians taking research out of the laboratory and into hospital clinics. Working with the University of Oxford, the NOC aims to develop practical treatments for common conditions that have considerable impact on the lives of people of all ages.
The NOC Appeal raised £5.2 million towards the cost of the Botnar building and a further appeal has been launched by the Trustees to raise £7 million to build phase two of the Botnar Research Centre which will be devoted to clinical research and trials of new treatments for arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and orthopaedics, epidemiology, bioengineering and postgraduate teaching.
Following a successful joint bid to become a Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) in Musculoskeletal Disease, the NOC and the University’s Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences have received funding from the National Institute of Health Research to support a number of projects.
The Unit is undertaking research into themes including: progression of osteoarthritis; shoulder pain, soft tissue regeneration and repair; vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy for osteoporosis study; understanding and treating cartilage damage and early osteoarthritis of the hip; and development of surgical technology and surgical skills.
A new clinical trials unit is planned for development in 2010. This will support the BRU’s clinical research with patient studies to inform further developments in:
• Evaluating therapies in arthritis and osteoporosis • Developing and evaluating new devices in orthopaedics
The surgeons and physicians who work at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre are among the world's leading experts in their field. They are heavily focused on the development and improvement of clinical practice, surgical technology and clinical practice.