Global medical technology company Smith+Nephew has collaborated with Standard Health to help establish the UK's first orthopaedic ambulatory surgery centre (ASC).

Located in Poole, Dorset, the facility is set to provide both NHS and private patients with joint repair and replacements.

Clinical healthcare provider Standard Health will oversee the development and operation of the new centre, with Smith+Nephew providing a range of medical technologies.

The centre is poised to offer treatments for various conditions, including rotator cuff repair, ACL reconstruction, and knee, hip, hand, and foot procedures.

Standard Health aims to expand this model across the UK, with plans to launch an additional ten sites within the next three years and a total of 20 by 2030.

Standard Health chief operating officer Matt Byrne said: “We chose to partner with Smith+Nephew to accelerate the implementation and ultimately help deliver the success of these surgical centres.”

The Poole centre will cater to day- and overnight-stay cases, which constitute the majority of orthopaedic surgeries.

Drawing inspiration from the ASC model prevalent in the US, where Smith+Nephew is a significant partner, the new centre aims to replicate the benefits observed in American settings.

These benefits include improved procedural efficiency and reduced costs to the health system.

In the US, ASCs have been shown to decrease the costs of joint replacements by 40% in comparison to hospital-based surgeries.

The Poole centre is anticipated to open this year and serve patients primarily through NHS referrals.

Smith+Nephew Global Orthopaedics president Craig Gaffin said: “The Standard Health orthopaedic ambulatory surgical centre model will bring the benefits long enjoyed by US patients to those on waiting lists in the UK.”

This initiative comes at a critical time, as the UK currently has more than 850,000 patients awaiting orthopaedic surgery, prompting the NHS to rely on independent providers to meet this growing demand.