Orthopaedics
About the Service / Department
Trauma and orthopaedics currently has 17 consultants specialising in all areas of the body, including hip, knee, foot, ankle, shoulder, elbow, hand, wrist and Spinal Services.
Patients are either seen as emergencies, through accident and emergency [including Minor Injuries and the Urgent Care Centre] or they are seen in a fracture or orthopaedic clinics. Emergency operations are carried out at Watford Hospital and elective procedures take place at St Albans City Hospital. All theatres are fully-equipped laminar flow theatres (laminar flow is a special air flow used to reduce the risk of infection).
The department has a very low rate of MRSA rate and all patients coming through the department are routinely screened for MRSA (swabs taken from nose and groin), and given preventative creams and washes to help clear the body of these bacteria, which many people carry without knowledge.
Wards
- Ridge Ward at Watford - primarily for patients with a fractured neck of femur (broken hip)
- Langley Ward at Watford - for patients who are admitted with a trauma
- Safari Ward at Watford - for paediatric surgery
- De la Mare Ward at St Albans - for patients who have a planned (elective) surgery
- St Albans Day Surgery Unit - elective day case surgery
The team
Consultants
Trauma and orthopaedics currently has 17 consultants specialising in all areas of the body, including hip, knee, foot, ankle, shoulder, elbow, hand, wrist and Spinal Services .
- Mr Krisztian Deierl - Clinical Director
- Miss Tressa Amirthanayagam
- Mr Venkatesh Balaji
- Mr Neil Davies
- Mr Subhajit Ghosh
- Mr Edmund Ieong
- Mr James Langdon
- Mr Simon Macmull
- Mr Piush Mahapatra
- Mr Daoud Makki
- Mr Ravi Popat
- Mr Jeremy Read
- Mr Ben Rudge
- Mr Gavin Schaller
- Mr Ben Spiegelberg
- Mr Tim Waters
- Mr Paul Whittingham-Jones
Our Extended Scope Practitioners
- Sarah Parr [Spine]
- Katherine Cran [Spine and Lower Limb]
- Adam Meakins [Upper Limb ]
- Nancy Venables [Upper Limb]
Nurse Practitioners
Theresa Maunganidze
The team includes also a number of:
- Associate Specialist
- ST (Specialty Training) doctors including Specialist Registrars
- CT (Core Training) doctors
- FY2 (Final Year) doctors
- FYI [First Year]doctors
Trauma Nurse coordinators
- Frances Scotchett
- Lean Alphonse-Blasse
Frances and Lean are responsible for arranging trauma admissions for those patients who require surgery for their injury or fracture, but who do not require to be in hospital while waiting for their operation; this includes patients who have attended a clinic appointment where surgery has been mutually decided upon, and those patients who have attended the Emergency Department with an injury requiring surgery but that did not specifically require admission on that day.
The doctor who sees you will pass your details on to one of the Trauma Co-ordinators, and they will in turn liaise directly with you regarding details of your planned admission.
The trauma coordinators can be reached on 01923 217820 Bleep 1045, between 07.30 and 7pm Monday to Friday and on Saturday
Referrals
Appointments are made either via the patient's General Practitioner, directly through Choose and Book or by the Musculoskeletal triage service in West Herts.
