If you need foot or ankle surgery, our specialist team will assess you and, depending on your general health and other medical conditions, will offer you surgery at either the University Hospital of Hartlepool or the University Hospital of North Tees.
If you have no medical conditions which would require additional medical backup you will be able to have your operation in our dedicated elective care unit at the University Hospital of Hartlepool.
Our team of consultants who carry out hundreds of these operations each year, their senior doctors, nurses, therapist and support staff will ensure you receive the highest standards of care.
Before Surgery
Our Homeward team will ensure any adaptations you need at home are put in place before you have your surgery so everything is ready for you when you get home and you can recover quickly and safely. Our integrated care services staff will take care of any ongoing medical needs you have when you go home.
On the day of surgery
We will ask you to come to hospital on the day of your surgery and go to our access lounge. There our staff will meet you, ask you to change, carry out any tests and checks needed and ensure you are as relaxed and comfortable as possible before you go to theatre. There are individual rooms but also a communal room, so you can choose which you would prefer while you wait to be called. When you go to theatre your personal possessions will be taken to the ward so they are there for when you arrive on the ward.
When you come in for your surgery will want to give you the best chance of a quick and safe recovery. Most operations of this type are done through spinal anaesthetic which is safer, especially for people with other medical problems such as heart or lung disease. Our consultant anaesthetists and their nursing team will take care of you during the operation and will make sure you are pain free and comfortable. You can bring some music and earplugs but most patients drift off to a natural sleep while the operation is taking place.
You are far less likely to feel or be sick after this type of anaesthetic and you can be up and about much more quickly. Our patients, under the care of our highly trained nurses and therapists, and usually stand up the first day after their surgery and are walking around soon after.
This modern way of caring for patients having surgery is known as enhanced recovery. You will spend far less time in hospital and can expect to be home on the third day after your operation. This should not worry you however, as our Homeward Team joint replacement nurses will see you at home and follow you right through your care.
Conditions we treat
We carry out a range of different treatments for a wide variety of foot and ankle issues.
Foot:
- Bunion-Scarf osteotomy
- Lapidus fusion
- Weil osteotomy
- Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery
- Treatment of heel pain
- Treatment of toenail disorders
- Treatment of Morton’s neuroma
- Excision of bony lumps/soft tissue swellings around foot and ankle
- Assessment of paediatric foot deformity
Ankle:
- Treatment of ankle ligament injuries
- Treatment of tendon disorders by tendon transfer
- Excision of bony lumps/soft tissue swellings around foot and ankle
- Ankle replacement
- Ankle osteotomy
Arthroscopic surgery:
Trauma and fractures:
- Fracture fixation and rehabilitation
- Lisfranc fracture fixation
- Calcaneal fracture fixation
- Ankle fractures
- Foot dislocation