Selly Oak Hospital is well renowned for the trauma care it provides, with access for the County Air Ambulance to land. The Arsenal footballer Eduardo da Silva had emergency surgery on 23 February 2008 under the care of the Selly Oak orthopaedic trauma team for an open fracture dislocation of the ankle.1 Selly Oak is also the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine which cares for injured service men and women from conflict zones, as well as training service medical staff in preparation for working in such areas. In conjunction with this, Selly Oak Hospital has one of the best burns units in the country.
In March 2007, the Hospital was alleged of mistreating Iraq war veterans.2 The hospital has appeared in national newspapers with stories of servicemen being abused in the hospital by members of the public. There were also difficulties when Jeremy Clarkson went to the hospital to give gifts to the wounded serviceman.3 A report published by the House of CommonsDefence Select Committee found that the hospital was the victim of a smear campaign4 and praised the clinical care provided to military patients.5
The oldest parts of the hospital were originally built as the King's Norton Union Workhouse.
