The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital has appointed Jo Thomas as Associate Medical Director. In this role Jo will be responsible for the quality of patient care and leadership of staff in Division 1 which broadly covers ward management, JointCare – The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital’s hip and knee replacement pathway, and the Outpatient clinic.
OPN: What drove you to choose a career in orthopaedics?
JT: Seeing first-hand the difference I could make in people’s lives. As a medical student I had to see a patient who had waited 3 years for a total hip replacement, then follow them up post-surgery. I had to present the case to the orthopaedic registrar. I’ll never forget standing on the 8th floor of the Royal Free Hospital, it must have been about 7pm and the sun was setting – it was an incredible view, and the patient who very kindly tolerated the inept questioning of a 3rd year medical student was almost in tears of joy. Pain free for the first time in years, and able to walk. I knew then that Orthopaedics was what I wanted to do.
OPN: What is your background and training in the industry?
JT: I started my training in London where I was a medical student and junior doctor. I also completed an MSc in Orthopaedics and Engineering before undertaking a fellowship in Southampton. I’m an executive coach as well which helps me develop communication and leadership skills that I hope help not only my patients but the PGDiT that I teach and my consultant colleagues at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.
OPN: Tell us more about your new role as Associate Medical Director at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital? What are your plans for the Trust?
JT: I absolutely love the Associate Medical Director role – I get to work with teams and surgeons who are extraordinary and support them in working together to be the best that they can be. Maintaining excellent standards is essential for us to bring more efficiency and productivity to our ways of working and collaboration is key – we can do more together than we can individually. And this ultimately benefits patients too as it helps us deliver even better patient care.
I’ll also be overseeing the further development of the ROH as a Major Revision Centre and promoting the Trust as a workplace of choice for female consultants.
OPN: How are you looking to help improve patient care and outcomes in the future?
JT: As we further develop ROH as a Major Revision Centre, this will support patient care and outcomes here at the Trust and elsewhere as we’ll be taking the excellent standard of care and expertise in Revision surgeries that the ROH is known for out to hubs across the country.
By focusing on collaboration and solutions-led thinking, we’ll be able to improve the productivity of our services to improve patient care, the patient experience and patient outcomes.
OPN: What’s the best part of your job?
JT: I just love the people. I really like working with my teams in strategic problem solving, and getting to talk to teams whether they’re in operations, theatres, Consultants, Imaging about how we can bring the best outcomes for patients. Everyone here embodies the Trust values too, whether it’s compassion for patients and colleagues, openness to discuss how we can continue innovating and improving or commitment to excellence, it’s really clear we have fantastic people working here at ROH and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do together.
OPN: What has been the highlight of your career so far?
JT: Achieving this position at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital. It is a centre of excellence in orthopaedics, an amazing place to work and the opportunity to develop my career here is a real highlight. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to work in a Trust that really values people, that is regularly regarded as one of the best places to work and for the support and opportunities that I have experienced during my time here.
OPN: Are you planning to attend or speak at any medical conferences or events over the next year?
JT: I am planning to attend the BOA, BSCOS and I am leading a bid for Birmingham to host the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society Conference. The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital’s Paediatric spinal deformity team and Paediatric Oncology team are absolutely world leading in their research and what they deliver.
OPN: If you didn’t work in the health industry, what would you be?
JT: I love the combination of problem solving with communication and leadership so I’d probably be in environmental engineering, as I’m really passionate about the environment. I was fortunate enough to join a 3.5 month expedition in the Arctic in 1996 and when you compare photos of the glaciers then to now, the change is unbelievable. It’s scary that much change has happened in a relatively short period of time and we’re going to continue to see drastic changes across the world in our lifetime if we continue as we are.
OPN: What would you tell your 21-year-old self?
JT: Remember to be kind, and find joy in everything you do. I have a magnet on my fridge with a quote from the Mary Oliver poem The Summer Day: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? I look at this quote daily and I always try and keep this in mind with how I live each day, finding joy in all I can and be kind to those around me.
OPN: If you were Health Minister for the day, what changes would you implement?
JT: I would separate out the government from decisions about NHS policy and strategy. Governments change and this can lead to changes of direction within the NHS and changing of focus. Governments should be able to decide the budget but I believe strong decisions are made by people with lived experience, so would look to set up a diverse board of people to make those decisions, those with distinguished careers in healthcare, and lived experiences who have the NHS long term interests at heart.
OPN: How do you think the future looks within the field of orthopaedics and what are your predictions for 2024 and the next decade?
JT: That is a big question! I am an optimist at heart: there are huge developments yet to come to fruition in Orthopaedics. I believe that we will continue to see improved patient outcomes, longer lasting prostheses and I think AI will start to become more widespread in Orthopaedics. I also believe that in order to improve diversity and retention among our work force we will have to embrace more flexible working and training which is something that I look forward to seeing.
