The evidence for safe innovation  

The Walton Centre is the UK’s only specialist trust dedicated to neurology, neurosurgery, spinal and pain management services. Performing thousands of surgeries and using thousands of implants each year, the Trust records data on each spinal procedure into the EUROSPINE Spine Tango registry to track long‑term treatment outcomes. 

Following significant changes to medical device regulations in Europe and the UK, manufacturers are increasingly required to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of implants at individual device and construct levels in order to maintain regulatory approval. 

To support this, NEC Health’s Registries & RWE team works with The Walton Centre and the Spine Tango registry to help bridge evidence gaps for manufacturers. This service also generates revenue that supports the Trust’s research activity. 

Independent clinical insight 

Registries play a vital role for device manufacturers, including large global suppliers such as Medtronic, by providing insight into real‑world patient outcomes that supports safety monitoring and ongoing device development. However, registry data alone may not always contain sufficient clinical detail to confirm specific outcomes, such as whether spinal fusion has been achieved.  

The insight provided by The Walton Centre helps address this gap. By reviewing patient notes and diagnostic imaging, clinicians can provide independent clinical assessment of outcomes that would otherwise be difficult to evidence using registry data alone. 

As part of a new Health Data Partnership with The Walton Centre, this approach has been applied in spinal care, combining anonymised patient‑level data from the Spine Tango registry with independent clinical assessment undertaken at the Trust to produce in‑depth evidence reports for specific implants, constructs or cohorts.  

Impact of the partnership

The Spinal Improvement Partnership has delivered measurable regulatory and commercial outcomes through collaboration between The Walton Centre, NEC Health and the EUROSPINE Spine Tango registry, including evidence provided to Medtronic. 

• Produced independent real‑world fusion evidence at product level, critical for regulatory follow‑up and post‑market surveillance, through the combination of registry data and independent review of CT and X‑ray imaging.  
• Provided Medtronic with product‑specific fusion evidence packs to support Regulatory Affairs filings, comprising independent, clinically robust real‑world evidence at device level.  
• Generated revenue for the Trust, supporting research activity and the development of specialist services. 

Key benefits for hopsitals and manufacturers   

The Walton Centre benefits from new forms of revenue that support research activity and service development. The partnership also provides deeper, clinically relevant insight into spinal implant performance, helping to strengthen assurance around device safety and effectiveness in routine practice and supporting continued clinical choice for surgeons.  

The service provides manufacturers with robust real‑world evidence of patient outcomes derived from routine NHS practice. This supports  regulatory follow‑up and post‑market requirements, helps maintain the availability of appropriate devices for patient care, and offers insight that can inform ongoing device evaluation and future innovation.  

Find out more  

To learn more about our health data partnerships with NHS Trusts, please contact us. You can also download our white paper, Unlocking the Power of Registry Data: How health data partnerships can drive safer, smarter patient care.