Ramsay Health Care UK (Ramsay UK) commissioned an independent national review of its orthopaedic and spinal services in 2025, to assess the quality, safety and consistency across its network of hospitals.
The review was carried out by GIRFT Projects @ Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH), using the clinically led, data-driven proven methodology developed through the NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme.
Overall, the independent review confirmed strong foundations of safe, efficient and high-quality care across Ramsay UK’s orthopaedic and spinal services, including efficient patient pathways, shorter lengths of stay, and positive clinical outcomes when compared with national benchmarks. These findings provide robust external assurance of Ramsay UK’s high quality health outcomes, clinical performance and service delivery.
In 2025, Ramsay UK delivered more than 63,000 orthopaedic and spinal episodes of care to NHS patients, reinforcing its position as the leading independent provider of elective services to the NHS.
As part of the review, 29 Ramsay UK hospitals delivering orthopaedic services were evaluated, of which 20 also deliver spinal services.
The assessment highlighted:
- Strong clinical outcomes benchmarked positively against national standards
- Efficient and streamlined patient pathways
- Shorter lengths of stay compared to national averages
- Consistent, high-quality care delivered across the Ramsay network
This recognition reflects the work of Ramsay UK teams to:
- Deliver consistent, high-quality care for NHS patients across its national network
- Maintain strong clinical governance and a culture of safety
- Continuous improvement of patient pathways and discharge planning to support shorter lengths of stay
- Use of data and audit to drive improvement and reduce unwarranted variation
Alongside celebrating these achievements, the report identifies further opportunities to reduce unwarranted variation, strengthen governance, and standardise best practice. These recommendations align with Ramsay UK’s ongoing focus on continuous improvement and collaboration with system partners to deliver high‑quality, sustainable elective care for patients across the country.
Looking ahead and building on the achievements of the GIRFT reviews across our hospitals, Ramsay UK has been selected as one of a small number of independent sector providers to have a hospital invited to undertake the Surgical Hub Accreditation under the wider GIRFT programme. Tees Valley Hospital is scheduled to undergo its accreditation visit in late Spring 2026.
Nick Costa, CEO, Ramsay Health Care UK said:
“We are very proud of the findings from this independent GIRFT review, which offers external assurance of the quality, safety and consistency of our orthopaedic and spinal services across Ramsay Health Care UK. As a key, local healthcare partner in the communities we serve across England our teams play a vital role in supporting elective recovery and supporting the NHS. The positive findings of this review reinforces our commitment to continuous improvement and collaboration with system partners which remain central to how we deliver safe, sustainable elective care for patients nationwide.”
Professor Tim Briggs CBE, GIRFT Programme Lead, said:
"With Ramsay UK carrying out more than 63,000 orthopaedic and spinal episodes of care for NHS annually, it is pleasing to see that this review has highlighted strong foundation of safe and efficient care. We hope they can now build on this report and continue to deliver efficient pathways and shorter lengths of stay, at the same time as strengthen their governance and further standardising best practice."
Mike Hutton, GIRFT Spinal Clinical Lead, said:
"The outcomes we have seen through the RNOH/GIRFT spinal review at Ramsay Health Care UK are excellent and reflect a clear commitment to high-quality, data-driven patient care."