The Children's Hospital @ Barts Health
With a turnover of £1.25 billion and a workforce of 15,000, Barts Health is the largest NHS trust in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers. The trust’s six hospitals – St Bartholomew’s (Barts) Hospital in the City, The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, The London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green, Newham University Hospital in Plaistow, Mile End Hospital and Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone – deliver high quality compassionate care to the 2.5 million people of east London and beyond.
Our leading Children’s Hospital cares for 40,000 young patients a year, offering a full range of routine and specialist services, including trauma, orthopaedics, cystic fibrosis, gastroenterology and sickle cell disease. When the Children’s Hospital was founded in 1867, 40% of local children did not survive beyond their 10th birthday. Based at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, the Children’s Hospital now serves one of the most diverse and deprived communities in Europe, with 50% of children living in poverty. Many of the children have complex, life threatening or terminal conditions requiring prolonged hospital stays.
The facts
History of the Paediatric and Young Adult Orthopaedic Unit
The practice of paediatric orthopaedic surgery at the London dates back to as early as 1840s when Mr. William John Little, FRCS, pioneered the art of Achilles tenotomy as a treatment for club feet. He also wrote extensively on the cure of deformities and in particular spastic deformities. This description led to the eponymous name “Little’s disease” for what we now know as cerebral palsy.
In the last 50 years, following the establishment of the orthopaedic department by Watson-Jones, Vaughn-Jackson and Osmond-Clarke, the two most recent paediatric orthopaedic surgeons who established the subspecialty were Brian Roper and Mark Paterson.
Brian Roper was appointed to the London Hospital in 1971. Prior to his appointment, he worked at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and in the US. He brought with him particular skills in the surgery of neuromuscular disorders, paediatric surgery and surgery of the upper limb. He was also regarded as an excellent practical teacher and one who cared about and contributed deeply to the training of his junior staff. Mark Paterson’s appointment in 1990 set the stage for the present day paediatric orthopaedic unit.
From a half-day weekly clinic dedicated to paediatric referrals from across the region, the unit expanded to four consultants, a dedicated paediatric orthopaedic fellow and registrars. The department now delivers all aspects of paediatric orthopaedics and trauma, including joint preservation surgery, hip and knee arthroscopy, a dedicated clubfoot and vertical talus clinic, a comprehensive neuromuscular service, a specialized combined hip dysplasia ultrasound one-stop baby hip clinic, deformity correction and paediatric scoliosis to Central and East London, Northeast Thames and beyond.
Matthew Barry joined Mark Paterson in 1998 and Manoj Ramachandran followed in 2007 and Claudia Maizen in 2012. In 2013, Kyle James was appointed as consultant following Mark Paterson’s retirement.
Led by Manoj Ramachandran as clinical and research lead, the unit has rapidly developed its research and educational activities at national and international level, along with expansion of the clinical services, including establishing the fellowship post and, in collaboration with the spinal team (Arun Ranganathan, Alexander Sheriff Montgomery and Najma Farooq), initiating regional paediatric scoliosis services.
Our department
Consultant surgeons
Manoj Ramachandran
Kyle James
Claudia Maizen
Matthew Barry
Arun Ranganathan
Alexander Sheriff Montgomery
Najma Farooq
Therapies
Di Coggings
Nicole Cash
Linda walsh
Pamela Marmelstein
Research staff
Jamila Kassam
Sarah van der Wal
Clinic receptionist
Janice Brownhill
With a turnover of £1.25 billion and a workforce of 15,000, Barts Health is the largest NHS trust in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers. The trust’s six hospitals – St Bartholomew’s (Barts) Hospital in the City, The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, The London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green, Newham University Hospital in Plaistow, Mile End Hospital and Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone – deliver high quality compassionate care to the 2.5 million people of east London and beyond.
Our leading Children’s Hospital cares for 40,000 young patients a year, offering a full range of routine and specialist services, including trauma, orthopaedics, cystic fibrosis, gastroenterology and sickle cell disease. When the Children’s Hospital was founded in 1867, 40% of local children did not survive beyond their 10th birthday. Based at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, the Children’s Hospital now serves one of the most diverse and deprived communities in Europe, with 50% of children living in poverty. Many of the children have complex, life threatening or terminal conditions requiring prolonged hospital stays.
The facts
- 124 beds
- 121,937 attendances on average annually
- Busiest paediatric A&E in London seeing over 35,000 children each year
- Busiest children's trauma hospital in England
- Referrals received from across London, the UK and internationally
- Nearly 400 high energy paediatric orthopaedic trauma patients brought in by trauma call via land and air ambulance over last 5 years
- 300 to 350 paediatric orthopaedic trauma admissions every year
- A diverse patient population with high rates of infant mortality and malnutrition
History of the Paediatric and Young Adult Orthopaedic Unit
The practice of paediatric orthopaedic surgery at the London dates back to as early as 1840s when Mr. William John Little, FRCS, pioneered the art of Achilles tenotomy as a treatment for club feet. He also wrote extensively on the cure of deformities and in particular spastic deformities. This description led to the eponymous name “Little’s disease” for what we now know as cerebral palsy.
In the last 50 years, following the establishment of the orthopaedic department by Watson-Jones, Vaughn-Jackson and Osmond-Clarke, the two most recent paediatric orthopaedic surgeons who established the subspecialty were Brian Roper and Mark Paterson.
Brian Roper was appointed to the London Hospital in 1971. Prior to his appointment, he worked at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and in the US. He brought with him particular skills in the surgery of neuromuscular disorders, paediatric surgery and surgery of the upper limb. He was also regarded as an excellent practical teacher and one who cared about and contributed deeply to the training of his junior staff. Mark Paterson’s appointment in 1990 set the stage for the present day paediatric orthopaedic unit.
From a half-day weekly clinic dedicated to paediatric referrals from across the region, the unit expanded to four consultants, a dedicated paediatric orthopaedic fellow and registrars. The department now delivers all aspects of paediatric orthopaedics and trauma, including joint preservation surgery, hip and knee arthroscopy, a dedicated clubfoot and vertical talus clinic, a comprehensive neuromuscular service, a specialized combined hip dysplasia ultrasound one-stop baby hip clinic, deformity correction and paediatric scoliosis to Central and East London, Northeast Thames and beyond.
Matthew Barry joined Mark Paterson in 1998 and Manoj Ramachandran followed in 2007 and Claudia Maizen in 2012. In 2013, Kyle James was appointed as consultant following Mark Paterson’s retirement.
Led by Manoj Ramachandran as clinical and research lead, the unit has rapidly developed its research and educational activities at national and international level, along with expansion of the clinical services, including establishing the fellowship post and, in collaboration with the spinal team (Arun Ranganathan, Alexander Sheriff Montgomery and Najma Farooq), initiating regional paediatric scoliosis services.
Our department
Consultant surgeons
Manoj Ramachandran
Kyle James
Claudia Maizen
Matthew Barry
Arun Ranganathan
Alexander Sheriff Montgomery
Najma Farooq
Therapies
Di Coggings
Nicole Cash
Linda walsh
Pamela Marmelstein
Research staff
Jamila Kassam
Sarah van der Wal
Clinic receptionist
Janice Brownhill
