History
The Combined Services Orthopaedic Society was formed in 1974 in order to promote orthopaedic specialty training in the Armed Services as a civilian organisation. It is funded entirely by the member’s contributions and sponsorship from trade organisations.
Meetings are held annually, and are open to all present and past members of the Armed Services with an interest in Trauma and Orthopaedics. In addition Consultant Advisor’s to the Defence Medical Services are invited. The change in Military Secondary Care Medical Provision in the last few years, with the formation of the Ministry of Defence Hospital Units within large NHS Trusts and military trainees being placed into centres of excellence, has provided a platform for trainees to present work on a broad range of Orthopaedic subjects.
More recently, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have increased the relevance of Military Trauma and thus the overall reputation of the Society. As an affiliated Society to the British Orthopaedic Association, the annual meeting now has a recognised position in the Orthopaedic Events Calendar.
President
Mr Nigel D Rossiter
Previously in the British Army Nigel is now President of the Combined Services Orthopaedic Society. He is a recently retired Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon in Basingstoke where he was Clinical Director and lead for Trauma. He is a board member and trustee of the Primary Trauma Care Foundation, where he was previously Chair and Medical Director. He was the founder of his hospital charity and sits on the board of GACI at the WHO as well as being on the Permanent Council of the G4 Alliance and has addressed the UN General Assembly.
He is on the Faculty Advisory Board for the Faculty of Remote Rural & Humanitarian Healthcare at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Oxford University Global Surgery Group and the Wessex Global Health Hub. He is a member of SELF – Surgical Educators Learners Forum: designing future global surgical education and a founder member of the “Oops meetings” – Learning from surgical mistakes. He is the founding President of the Orthopaedic Trauma Society and is on the International Consensus panel for VTE prevention and was on the NICE VTE group. He is a founding Fellow of the International Orthopaedic Trauma Association and an Emeritus International member of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and led the setting up of the South Central Trauma Networks in England. He reviews clinical trials for the NIHR/HTA & papers for BJJ, Injury, JBJSA, Bone & Joint Research, and others.
He is a founder, director, and past Chair, of Incision Medical Indemnity. He is chair of the Scientific advisory board for Open Medical. He has been medical adviser to Rams Rugby. He is an Emeritus fellow of the British Association for Surgery of the Knee and a founding fellow of the British Patello-Femoral Society. He co-authored many of the BOASTs and has been international AO faculty, chaired the AO Advances & Principles in UK & Ireland, and is now an AO Faculty Coach. He has been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the BOA (the highest award in British Trauma & Orthopaedics), Trainer of the Year for the Wessex area twice, “NHS Shine Awards Inspiring Educator of the year” finalist twice, and, recipient of an Hippocrates Award for excellence in the field of medicine from Who’s Who – in which he is listed. He co-authored the original STEP course & has been a Basic Surgical Skills tutor.
Chairman
Col Hugo Guthrie MBE
“Welcome to the Combined Services Orthopaedic Society. As a previous Secretary and Treasurer, I am committed to the society and am honoured and delighted to have the opportunity to serve as Chairman.
Our society exists to support the professional development of military Trauma and Orthopaedic surgeons in training. We also create opportunities for our members to build networks and develop friendships with military and civilian colleagues and our guests. We respect our history, celebrate our achievements, and strive to be ready for whatever the future may bring.”
Biography
Hugo was an Army scholar, undertook a Short Service Limited Commission as an infantry officer with the Royal Green Jackets and then transferred to the Territorial Army as an instructor in the Officer Training Corps. He was awarded a medical cadetship in 1997 and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2000.
Following pre-registration house jobs in Northallerton and Carlisle and an A&E SHO post in Plymouth, Hugo attended the Army Post-Graduate Medical Officer Course. In January 2003 he was posted to 1st Battalion, The Black Watch as Regimental Medical Officer, immediately deploying to Kuwait, and then onward into Iraq on Op TELIC. In 2004 he returned to Iraq for his second tour with the Battalion. This included a challenging deployment to Fallujah, following which he was appointed MBE.
Hugo’s Basic Surgical Training was at Frimley Park and Queen Alexandra Hospitals and his Higher Surgical Training was on the St George’s rotation. In 2015, following FRCS, award of CCT and fellowships in Trauma and Knee surgery, Hugo was appointed Consultant at St George’s. During training he deployed to Afghanistan on Op HERRICK, spent a short period as military registrar at RCDM in Birmingham and undertook research at DSTL in Porton Down.
Between 2018 and 2021 Hugo was Clinical Director at 22 Field Hospital, this included validation exercises in the UK, deployments to Oman and on Op SHADER and was part of the Military Advisory Team at the London Nightingale Hospital during Op RESCRIPT. In 2023 he deployed on Op CATALYSE as part of a Short-Term Training Team.
Between 2020-2024 Hugo served as Consultant Advisor to Head Army Medical Services and has now started his tenure as Defence Consultant Advisor to the Surgeon General.
Hugo has been married to Celia since 2005, is the proud father of Ella (17) and Will (15). He is a keen road cyclist and amateur sailor.