Patients from across the UK are referred to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in Stanmore and Bolsover Street, London for specialist orthopaedic care, including complex spinal surgery, bone and soft tissue tumour treatment, and hip and knee replacement.

RNOH has a long history of excellence in orthopaedic and neuro-musculoskeletal care and is the UK’s leading specialist centre. The hospital is supported by RNOH Charity, which helps the Trust go beyond the limitations of its NHS budget to provide state-of-the-art equipment and services, and enhance the environment for patients, staff and visitors.

Specialist orthopaedic services at RNOH

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a term that is used when a patient's spine is curved. Scoliosis can occur at any age, but most commonly it develops during early adolescence. This is a period of rapid growth when a child’s body starts to grow and becomes more adult.

If a patient needs surgery for scoliosis, this can be done in a number of ways. The surgeon will discuss what the best option is for each person. The surgical options will depend on what the scoliosis looks like and the surgeon’s preference. Surgery to correct the curvature of the spine can be done to the front or back of the spine, or both. The goals of the surgery are to correct some of the curve and to fuse the spine so that the scoliosis cannot get worse. Fusing the spine means making the bones of the spine join together so that there is no more movement between them. This is usually done by putting rods and screws into the bones, to hold them still, while they grow together.

Find out more about scoliosis treatment at RNOH here.

RNOH Charity works hard to fundraise for patients being treated for scoliosis and spinal deformity. Did you know we recently bought a special children’s wheelchair for younger patients undergoing halo traction before surgery? It helps keep them more involved in daily life instead of being confined to bed. Find out more here.

Sarcoma

RNOH has a Bone and Soft Tissue Tumour Service (BoSTT). The hospital is an NHS highly specialised referral centre with multidisciplinary teams for the diagnosis and treatment of patients of all ages with confirmed or suspected bone or soft tissue cancer, including sarcomas. These include benign and malignant orthopaedic tumours, bone and soft tissue sarcomas and metastatic bone disease.

Read more about the RNOH Sarcoma Unit here.

How RNOH Charity funds innovation

RNOH Charity supports adult and paediatric sarcoma patients in many ways. We’ve just funded a ground-breaking new mobile app developed by RNOH clinicians. Called the BoSTT app, this innovative service is a mobile library of cases to help with diagnosis and treatment. The new version has just been released.

Read about the BoSTT sarcoma app here.

Surgery

The expert clinicians at RNOH perform many types of life-changing surgery. RNOH Charity supports them by providing world-class facilities that would not usually be affordable within the hospital’s NHS budget.

We recently gave the hospital more than £820,000 towards the new Centenary Theatres Block at Stanmore. The teams were able to use the money for essential equipment, such as monitors, ultrasound, X-rays and anaesthetic machines. With this additional funding, the project could be extended to solar panels to reduce costs and provide extras for staff comfort within the building.

Learn more about the Centenary Theatres Block here.

We’ve also funded pagers so that more families and carers can be reunited with their loved one as soon as they’re out of theatre and in recovery. 95% of parents said the call buttons gave them more confidence and we were delighted to be able to extend this service to more people.

Find out more about the pagers here.

Transforming patient recovery and outcomes

Robotic surgery

This year, we are fundraising for a new Mako robotic arm. This transformative technology delivers greater precision in hip and knee replacement, complex reconstruction and revision surgery, delivering the very best care and faster recovery time.

Demand for robot-assisted hip and knee replacement is growing rapidly. More patients qualify for robotic surgery than the hospital currently has capacity to support – from people as young as 12 hoping for a healthy future to adults seeking freedom from pain and limited mobility.

Our goal is to raise £630,000 to double the number of patients who can benefit from this state-of-the-art device. Thanks to fantastic support from donors so far, we have made great progress but we still have £350,000 left to raise.

"Your support will fuel innovation, helping us pioneer new techniques and keep RNOH at the forefront of surgical excellence. The hospital cannot fund enough advanced equipment within the confines of an NHS budget so charitable support is the only way to bring the new Mako to more patients. Together, we can make sure everyone, regardless of their means, benefits from the very best care.”

Simon Newman, RNOH Consultant Hip Surgeon