Personal profile
In 2009 he was appointed a Consultant Knee Surgeon at Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust with a specialist interest in revision knee surgery. Mr Walsh offers all aspects of knee surgery including knee replacement, revision surgery, arthroscopy and sports injury treatments. He also offers solutions for knee instability.
Within his NHS role he has now been appointed an Associate Medical Director where he has senior leadership responsibilities at the Trust. At the Huddersfield Hospital he has also been appointed the Clinical Chair where he works along side the Executive Director to help shape the future direction of the hospital.
As well as his clinical interests, Mr Walsh is a strong advocate for the use of technology in healthcare, seeing it as an enabler to improve patient care. He was therefore appointed to the role of the Chief Clinical Information Officer at the Trust, one of the most digitally innovative in the country. This has allowed him to work to improve patient pathways and access to healthcare using technology, something which he also brings to the Huddersfield Hospital. As part of the role he has developed a truly unique Digital Day Case Knee Pathway.
He has received national recognition for his work and recently has been awarded:
- Healthcare Transformation Awards 2019- Highly Commended for `Digital Day Case Knee Pathway'
- Excellence in Supply Awards 2019- shortlisted
- Health Tech News Award 2020- Most Promising Pilot- for Digital Day Case Knees
- HSJ Awards 2020- Highly Commended for Digitising Patient Services Initiative
- NHS Parliamentary Awards Nomination 2020
Outside of work, Mr Walsh is married to Lara and is a hands-on father to his 4 children. He enjoys spending time with his family, be it in this country or on holiday in the sun or on their annual family ski trip. He also part-owns a popular local bar where he can at times be seen lending a hand behind the bar.
Mr Walsh’s main interests lie in the tailored treatments of arthritis in both younger and older patients. Offering a bespoke service to fit the right solution to the right patient. He offers a comprehensive treatment regime including both operative and non-operative options. These range from therapy input to a selection of joint injections, to surgery.
Mr Walsh is a key opinion leader for Bioventus, the market leader in hyaluronic acid injections with Durolane, designed to delay the need for knee replacements. He regularly runs a course in Sweden teaching other surgeons how to manage early arthritis using injection therapy. He is often asked to speak to international audiences on the subject.
Operatively he offers all options for joint replacement including total knee replacements, partial knee replacements, custom fit knee replacements and the high functioning knee replacement, the Attune. Following consultation, a joint decision is made on the best option, for you the patient. He is a strong advocate for involving the patient both in the decision process but recognises the importance of the patient’s involvement in their own recovery. This philosophy has allowed him to pioneer day case knee replacement surgery.
The day case knee replacement pathway has led to significant improvements in the way we deliver care and has had a huge impact on patient satisfaction allowing us to offer patients the convenience of going home the day of their knee replacement surgery: https://kneesolutions.org.uk/
The pathway has received national awards and Mr Walsh regularly speaks both national and internationally at conferences about this new technique, regularly hosting teams to learn how the teams delivers day case. The work was also published in a major national Sunday newspaper: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7344251/Revolutionary-knee-replacement-procedure-sees-patients-surgery-just-four-hours.html.
As well as primary knee surgery he also offers a comprehensive revision knee practice. He often receives referrals from other surgeons and other hospitals to manage those knees where the surgery has not gone to plan. Often the patient is suffering from chronic pain or instability problems with their knee replacement. The problem knee replacement does not always require major revision surgery, but Mr Walsh is skilled in identifying and rectifying the problem. Should a revision be required, he is able to offer the latest revision implant, the Attune revision system.
Mr Walsh carries out over 300 primary joints a year, including partial and total, as well as around 350 arthroscopies and 40 revision knee replacements. He has some of the best patient outcome scores in the country based on the Government's Patient Related Outcome Measure Scores (PROMS). The National Joint Registry data also shows that his surgical outcomes also rate among the best in the UK.
