Sulis Orthopaedic Centre to cut surgical waiting times for NHS patients

On Tuesday 27 May, a state-of-the-art new specialist surgical centre located just outside of Bath opened its doors to NHS patients from Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW).

The Sulis Orthopaedic Centre (SOC) will perform an additional 3,000 planned orthopaedic operations on suitable NHS patients in BSW every year.

This will help to significantly reduce waiting times for many patients awaiting such operations, which include life-changing hip and knee replacements.

Based at Sulis Hospital in Peasedown St John, the SOC is a collaboration between Sulis and three NHS acute hospitals, which are known collectively as BSW Hospitals Group: Great Western Hospital (GWH) NHS Foundation Trust in Swindon, the Royal United Hospitals (RUH) Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury Foundation Trust (SFT).

Cara Charles-Barks, the Chief Executive of BSW Hospitals Group, said: “We are really pleased to see the Sulis Orthopaedic Centre open its doors to patients from across the BSW Hospitals Group. Not only will it make a real difference by reducing waiting times for orthopaedic surgery, but it will also help to safeguard our services from the increase in demand that we expect to see in the future, due to the ageing population of the people we care for collectively.

“This is a shining example of how, by working together, we can transform patients’ experiences.”

One way in which the hospitals will work closely together is in the surgical teams. Patients’ NHS consultant specialists will oversee care throughout and perform the operations, working alongside Sulis’s own surgical and recovery teams. Patients will be cared for at Sulis immediately before and after their operations, but additional pre- and post-operative appointments will continue to take place at their local NHS hospital. This means they will only need to travel for the operation itself.

The SOC builds on an existing, successful working relationship between the RUH and Sulis. The two hospitals formed an official partnership in June 2021 and have been working together closely for the benefit of NHS patients ever since. In April 2024 – March 2025, 750 operations were performed on NHS patients being treated at the RUH, using Sulis’ surgical theatres. The opening of the SOC creates even more capacity for NHS patients, enabling thousands more people to return to a better quality-of-life sooner than before. It will also help support the government’s targets for reducing NHS waiting lists for elective surgery.   

Simon Milner, Hospital Director Sulis Hospital, said: “The opening of the Sulis Orthopaedic Centre, situated next to Sulis Hospital, marks a significant and much-anticipated milestone. At Sulis, we’re proud to reaffirm our commitment to increase capacity and improve access to high-quality, year-round elective orthopaedic care for NHS patients across BSW.

"Working in partnership with the NHS enables us to give back to the local community in meaningful ways and we’re excited to pioneer a new, collaborative approach to healthcare that benefits everyone.”