Pavitra Naidoo

Inpatient Therapy Lead NWL Elective Orthopaedic Centre & St Marks National Bowel Hospital

Acute Podiatry Operational Lead & Trust Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship Lead London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

In 2021, post pandemic I accepted the position of Inpatient Therapy Lead at Central Middlesex Hospital. It was subsequently decided by the ICS, that this site would also be host for the NWL Elective Orthopaedic Centre once designed and implemented. This service would aim to reduce waiting times for routine elective orthopaedic surgeries across the sector by completing low complexity, high frequency surgical procedures for the local populations of North West London.

As a key stakeholder in the design, implementation and delivery of this project over the past 2 years, I developed a keen interest in service development and finding ways to reduce health inequalities, thereby improving the healthcare outcomes of the diverse population we serve. Having been raised and educated in a multicultural society in South Africa, I am passionate about understanding and meeting the needs of the society we live in to provide fair access to health care for all.

Together with my colleagues Arun Pall and Sebastien Timmermans, we plan to design a holistic programme that will improve the pre-operative health and post-surgical outcomes of those patients who have been listed and placed on the waiting list for surgery in our sector. The programme will be evidence based but tailored to the areas of individual need thereby empowering people to take control of their own health and wellbeing whilst awaiting surgery.

I am looking forward to using this programme to learn the skills, strategies and techniques to deliver this project which will then give me the confidence to take on further challenges in my journey within the NHS and beyond.