Members of the Team
In order to provide the best care to patients I depend on a team of colleagues. Each member of the team has their own area of expertise. Members of the team may include:
The Team of Cosultant Paediatric Surgeons and Urologists from Birmingham Children's Hospital (photo Mike Singh)
Medical Secretary
One of the key members of the team in ensuring the patients get the care they need is my secretary.
My Secretary in BCH for my NHS practice is Sophie Randell (0121 333 8082)
I have recently started to work with a secretary for my Private Practice. Her name is Jan Foreman and can be contacted in the following ways:
Tel: 07398 455508
If Jan is unable to answer straight away please leave a message and she will get back to you as soon as possible
Email: [email protected]
The roles that my secretary undertakes include:
- Ensuring patients are booked into the correct clinic
- Ensuring patinets have the correct investigations organised before being seen in clinic
- Managing my waiting list, and booking patients for theatre
- Taking enquiries from families about their care.
- Managing correspondence
Many people are unaware of how much a medical secretary does for a patient.
Urodynamics Nurse Specialists
The Urodynamics team are a specialised team of nurses.
Their roles include:
- Supporting patients on their journey. This may be pre-operatively or post-operatively
- Education - they teach patients and their families about their conditions and the surgery that we perform such as bladder augmentations and mitrofanoff procedures. They also teach skills such as urethral catheterisation to parents / carers and to other healthcare groups
- Perform simple urodynamics (such as flows and residuals)
- Assist with running Video Urodynamics Tests
- Help patients with accessing catheters and bags that they need
- In Birmingham Children's Hospital they run a number of clinics and support some of the specialised urology clinics.
The Urodynamics team currently consists of 4 nurses:
- Sarah Kearney
- Elspeth Mcie
- Emily Reavenhal
- Nisha Chinn
They can be contacted on: 0121 333 9222
Nurses
Nurses provide care for patients in both the wards and in outpatients.
Some nurses have had extra specialised training and take on roles that traditionally were undertaken by doctors.
Some nurses prescribe drugs, other take blood tests and insert drips whilst others have special clinical expertise allowing them to manage some conditions.
Physician's Associate
Physician's Associates (PA) originated in America, where they are now firmly established. The role of a PA is to support the medical team in caring for patients.
We are very fortunate in Birmingham Children's Hospital to have a PA who works within the Urology Department.
Katie Green sees patients in her own clinic and is quickly amassing significant experience in looking after patients with Neuropathic Bladders. She also runs a telephone clinic, which allows us to feed results back to families without them having to come back to Birmingham Children's Hospital
Nephrologists
Nephrologists are specialist doctors who look after patients with kidney problems.
They also look after patients who require dialysis or kidney transplantation. They also look after patients who have a transplanted kidney
Radiographer / Ultrasonographer
Radiographers and Ultrasonographers are the people who do scans and take x-rays.
In order to get the best information from any investigation the person doing it must have the ability to work with young people to gain their trust and get them to cooperate with the test as well as the technical skills to work the equipment
Radiologists
Radiologists are doctors who specialise in imaging patients and interpreting x-rays and scans.
The types of scans and tests that they have expertise in includes:
- plain x-rays
- Contrast studies
- Ultrasound Scans
- CT scans
- MRI
- Nuclear Medicine scans. (these are specialised scans that allow us to get information about how organs, such as the kidneys, work.) The most common tests that I request are DMSA scan and a MAG3.
A small group of radiologists have special expertise in using x-rays and US to allow them to perform procedures which include inserting drains, accessing blood vessels which allows them to clot off bleeding vessels. This group is called Interventional Radiologists.
In Birmingham I work Closely with Dr Simon McGuirk. Some of the procedures that I undertake - especially for kidney stones - are often done jointly.
Anaesthetist
Anaesthetists are doctors who specialise in giving anaesthetics (making you sleep through an operation) and managing pain.
If you are having surgery, before you go to theatre you will be seen by the anaesthetist who will explain what is involved in the anaesthetic. This includes explaining to you how your child will go to sleep and what pain relief will be used so that your child is as comfortable as possible when they wake up.
Your child may be seen by an anaesthetist in a pre-assessment clinic before they are admitted for an operation if they have a complex medical history, or the surgery is complicated.
Neurosurgeons
A Neurosurgeon is a surgeon who specialises in surgery of the brain, spinal cord and nervous system.
Young people who have problems with their spinal cord (such as spina bifida) may also have problems with their bladder (a condition called a neuropathic bladder). Many of these patients are cared for by both neurosurgeons and urologists.
Other Paediatric Surgeons and Urologists
Each surgeon has a special area of expertise. Some patients have conditions that mean that to manage it properly requires the expertise of more than 1 surgeon.
As an example I work closely with 2 consultant colleagues who have a special interest in colorectal problems in children. When children are born with a complex condition that affects the gut and the waterworks we will often manage these patients, plan their surgery and operate together to ensure the best outcome for the patient.