Trauma and Orthopaedics

If your GP has referred you to an orthopaedic consultant for a non-emergency condition, you will be seen at one of our orthopaedic outpatient clinics. These are held every day and most of them take place in the fracture clinic which is located on the ground floor of the hospital, close to the x-ray department. A small number of clinics take place in the surgical outpatient department on the first floor.

When you attend for your appointment, you may be asked to have an x-ray before you see the doctor.  As a result of the appointment, you may be referred for other investigations such as an MRI scan or ultrasound scan.

When you have been seen in clinic and had all the necessary tests and investigations, your consultant will discuss treatment options with you. At this point, you may decide that surgery is the best option for you.

If you are listed for a surgical procedure, you may be asked to go to the pre-assessment department on the same day as your clinic appointment.

We want you to be as fit as possible before surgery to prevent cancellation and reduce post-operative complications. The main aim of this assessment is to ensure all of your existing medical conditions are optimised and any new conditions are detected.

This involves arranging all the necessary tests and investigations in preparation for your surgery. You may require a number of visits to pre-assessment.

A full explanation of the procedure and admission details will be discussed with you. You will be given a telephone number as a point of contact just in case you have questions regarding your planned admission.

If you are having elective (planned) orthopaedic surgery, you are most likely to be admitted via the elective orthopaedic unit on Ward 34E, which is located on floor 6 of the main hospital. This includes both in-patients who will have an overnight stay and some day case procedures.

Some day case procedures are carried out on the day surgery unit, which is located on the floor 2 of the main hospital. You are likely to be discharged without an overnight stay.

On the day of admission an anaesthetist will assess you to see if you are medically fit for surgery. A nurse will ensure your personal details are correct and help to prepare you for surgery.

If everything is deemed satisfactory, you will be transferred to a theatre for surgery.

Following your operation

You will be transferred back to the orthopaedic elective unit following the operation (ward 34E). You are likely to remain on ward 34E until you are medically fit for discharge and have been assessed by the therapy team. If your procedure was planned as a day case, you will usually be discharged home the same day.

Leaving hospital 

We start planning for discharge during the early stages of an inpatient stay. When the medical team have documented that a patient is medically fit, discharge planning can be put into effect.

We will ensure that we have taken a thorough social history so that we get to know each patient and their home environment. We need to make sure that patients are safe to be discharged with relevant support, if needed.

Patients may need further rehabilitation which may be more appropriate in a patient’s own home or at an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

If you attend our emergency department due to an injury to your arm, leg, shoulder or foot, (depending on the severity of your injury) you may be admitted directly to the orthopaedic trauma unit.

If you do not need admission immediately, you are likely to be referred to our fracture clinic.

There are daily fracture clinics and these take place on the ground floor of the hospital, near to the X-ray department. You may be asked to have an x-ray before seeing the doctor in clinic.

You can call the Fracture Clinic on 01226 433061

The orthopaedic trauma unit is located on Ward 33 on floor six of the main hospital.

A common fracture which we assess and treat is a hip fracture (fractured neck of femur). On a day to day basis we cannot predict how many trauma patients will be admitted to the hospital. We hold a daily trauma meeting where the orthopaedic team will discuss individual cases and plan a surgical list for the day. Trauma patients may have suffered a variety of injuries.

Visit the AccessAble website for accessibility information and directions for visiting the trauma unit at Barnsley Hospital.