Shoulder & Elbow Centre, Reading Shoulder Unit, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, London > About > The Reading Shoulder Unit

The Reading Shoulder Unit

The Reading Shoulder Unit, an international centre of excellence, with both NHS and private wings, Now based at the Berkshire Independent Hospital (Ramsay) and Spire Dunedin Hospital, investigates and treats patients with all types of disorders of the shoulder. The unit is recognised worldwide, treating patients locally, nationally and internationally.

The Reading Shoulder Unit was originally established in 1999 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, the Berkshire Independent Hospital (Ramsay) and Spire Dunedin Hospital.

Prof. Ofer Levy continue to practice in the Reading Shoulder Unit at the Berkshire Independent Hospital and Spire Dunedin Hospital, he continues to provide to all patients of the Unit the highest possible standards of care that make the Reading Shoulder Unit worthy of its reputation as an international centre of excellence for shoulder surgery.

Patients can consult and be treated at the BIH or Dunedin either as NHS patients if referred through the NHS Choose & Book system, or as private patients.

Prof. Ofer Levy ceased to practice at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

Please refer the patients to the Reading Shoulder Unit at the Berkshire Independent Hospital.

The Reading Shoulder Unit was originally established in 1999 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, the Berkshire Independent Hospital (Ramsay) and Spire Dunedin Hospital.

  • Berkshire Independent Hospital

  • The Reading Shoulder Unit at the Berkshire Independent Hospital

  • Dunedin Hospital

The unit was established by two leading orthopaedic surgeons.

  • Stephen Copeland FRCS

  • Ofer Levy MD MCh(Orth) FRCS

The Reading shoulder unit team:

Consultant Orthopaedic shoulder and elbow surgeons:

Consultant anaesthetists BPA - Berkshire Private Anaesthesia:

An experienced team of physiotherapists, nurses, secretaries, a Biomechanical engineers, IT and research staff.

The unit is full equipped to treat all kinds of shoulder problems including:

The Unit operates at the Berkshire Independent Hospital and the Spire Dunedin Hospital.

NHS Patients now can be seen on all sites through Choose & Book.

The Reading Shoulder unit is the official shoulder and elbow treatment centre for GB Rowing Team

The BIH private Unit is located on the ground floor of the Berkshire Independent Hospital, close by a fully equipped physiotherapy department.

The surgeons operate at the Berkshire Independent Hospital, and the Spire Dunedin Hospital.

 

They are supported by a dedicated theatre team at all three venues.

 

The physiotherapists run a shoulder assessment and rehabilitation programme for patients being treated by unit.

There are computerised patient records and an IT network link between the Shoulder Unit, the operating theatres and outpatient clinics in all participating Reading Hospitals.

Research and Development

The unit's work includes basic scientific and clinical studies, as well as the development and introduction of new techniques in both arthroscopic and open surgery.

We have introduced the concept of 'One-stop clinic' for diagnosis and treatment of shoulder problems by performing Ultrasound scan of the shoulder at the time of first consultation, saving the patient time and discomfort and initiating treatment without delay.

The unit is the world centre for shoulder resurfacing and stemless reverse total shoulder arthroplasty.

In fact, the Unit was responsible for developing "The Copeland Shoulder", a cementless resurfacing shoulder replacement technique now used worldwide.

The development of the 'Verso shoulder system', a cementless bone preserving reversed geometry shoulder replacement.

Development of arthroscopic techniques and instruments, and It has also pioneered the use of thermal shrinkage for arthroscopic stabilisation, following extensive research.

There is regular collaborative research between the Reading Shoulder Unit, Reading University, Brunel university, Manchester university and Imperial College, London and Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel.

The Unit has produced standardised rehabilitation protocols in conjunction with specialist shoulder physiotherapists at the Reading Hospitals. These protocols are currently being adopted by other hospitals and physiotherapists in the area.

Teaching, Surgical education & Training

The Shoulder Unit is internationally renowned for its training programmes. Since 1982 it has held Shoulder Surgery Courses at Reading University. These courses attract both British and European Shoulder Surgeons. Teaching seminars for general Practitioners, Physiotherapists and Nurses are also held regularly at the Reading Shoulder Unit. Corses on shoulder surgery for specialist registrars are regularly held in the unit. Several times a year the Reading shoulder unit hold advanced shoulder surgery courses for arthroscopic surgery and for shoulder arthroplasty. These courses include satelite transmission of live surgery and workshops.

Within the Reading shoulder unit there is fully equipped bioskills laboratory for teaching and practicing open and arthroscopic surgical techniques.

The shoulder fellows practice at the bio-skills lab which now has a Virtual Reality Haptic Training Simulator for arthroscopic surgery, which has been developed with collaboration of the Unit.