North Wales Knee Clinic

Mr Smith practices at:

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry.

The Yale Hospital, Wrexham.

He specialises purely in disorders of the knee and offers a comprehensive service for all age groups and activity levels in both the NHS and private sectors.

For patients requiring private consultations and treatment, appointments are available with Mr Smith at the The North Wales Knee Clinic at Spire Yale Hospital, Wrexham and Spire Abergele consulting rooms. The North Wales Knee Clinic is a new service for 2010, established by Mr Smith. All consultations and surgery are undertaken exclusively by him and patients will receive all the benefits of care from his dedicated multidisciplinary team.

Knee Replacement

Personal Profile

Mr Smith completed undergraduate medical education at Edinburgh University, graduating in 1989. He then gained a commission to the Royal Army Medical Corps. After The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, he joined the Grenadier Guards as their medical officer. This proved to be a very rewarding commitment with several tours of duty around the world.

Mr Smith entered surgical training on completion of his tour with the Guards. He gained the FRCS and commenced training in orthopaedic surgery. He developed an interest in disorders of the knee as a military surgeon and having left the service in the rank of Major, enhanced his experience in orthopaedics as a registrar on the Welsh training scheme.

Consultant appointment was made to his present posts in 2001, after completion of a knee surgery fellowship in Adelaide.

Mr Smith is purely a knee specialist and offers a service covering all aspects of knee disorders for all age groups and activity levels.

Arthroscopy and cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery forms a large part of his practice, and can usually be performed as a day case procedure.

Knee joint replacement is also a significant component of Mr Smiths practice, he presently performs over 250 total knee replacements per year, 60 unicompartmental knee replacements and 25 revision procedures. This places him firmly in the high volume end of the speciality. Mr Smith has a particular interest in early arthritis and the place of surgical intervention to improve symptoms and maintain function. He offers an osteotomy service for patients who fulfil strict criteria and has enjoyed considerable success with this over the years.

Some patients require more extensive surgical intervention to restore function. Mr Smith has been closely involved in cartilage transplant, meniscal allografting, microfracture and recently, the implantation of man-made meniscal implants. This is all part of on-going research projects and can be discussed on an individual basis.

Disorders of the patella-femoral joint are also addressed in his practice, he provides a service for patients with patella instability, utilising medial patella-femoral ligament reconstruction, realignment osteotomy and trochleoplasty as required.

A rapid recovery programme has recently been introduced by Mr Smith to give his patients a more comfortable and rapid return to function following joint replacement surgery. This has been achieved by the integration of less invasive surgical techniques, multimodal anaesthesia and a carefully constructed team-working approach.

Mr Smith has a longstanding commitment to training, research and working towards the best possible outcomes for his patients. He is a member of the Welsh orthopaedic training committee and is the clinical lead across North Wales for the rapid recovery programme.

On -going research and development are a large part of Mr Smiths practice, he is engaged in several long term outcome studies and acts in a consulting and advisory capacity on the development of joint replacements and instrumentation for industry.

Mr Smith spends his spare time on the waters around North Wales with his young son. They share a love of sailing and other watersports. In the winter months they ski.