The Specialist Orthopaedic Alliance has been formed by a group of specialist centres dedicated to providing orthopaedic services, ranging from the straightforward to the highly specialised, to patients across the UK. These centres, based at Trusts around the country, are at the leading edge of best practice in medicine and conduct internationally recognised training and research. They not only provide services to patients, but are also responsible for training many of the UK’s orthopaedic surgeons and other specialist staff including, for example, physiotherapists. They provide essential clinical training, leadership and research. Their reputation means they take referrals from across the UK and also receive private referrals from across the world. Specialist orthopaedic centres have developed a high degree of competence and clinical effectiveness for routine orthopaedic treatments and highly specialised complex procedures. The nature of the specialist centres brings together some key components that enable development of procedures which other hospitals are unable to undertake. These Trusts provide specialist services not routinely provided elsewhere, including: