ORTHOPAEDIC WALK: Last year, the Great Western Hospital's orthopaedic department carried out 189 hip replace- ments.
The department also performed 275 knee operations.
Staff dealt with 27,989 outpatient appointments.
The department has 36 emergency beds and 18 for elective procedures.
There are 120 staff in the department, ranging from administration workers to consultants.
The Orthopaedic department is supported by one of the most sophisticated X-ray departments in the country.
Photographic film, which is still used in the majority of NHS hospitals, has been replaced by a digital imaging system which means that consultants in the orthopaedic department can access x-ray images almost as soon as they are taken, speeding up patient care.
The new system will also save doctors and nurses time by allowing any number of medics to look at the same image at the same time.
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