Specialisms

Emergency Medicine Department

The Emergency Department multidisciplinary team treated over 46,000 patients in 2007/08. The department is a 24/7 unit dealing with major trauma and providing care for the acutely ill in addition to those who self present with minor injuries. Patients referred from General Practitioners to Surgical and Medical specialties are seen and assessed by the relevant doctors in the Emergency Assessment Unit or Emergency Department. There is one review clinic per week with a physiotherapist.

 

The facilities in the Emergency Department include:

• Reception and two waiting areas, one dedicated to children
• Triage room
• Three Resuscitation bays (one fully paediatric equipped, one chest pain)
• Five high dependency bays
• Four low dependency cubicles
• Three bay ENP zone including eye cubicle
• Two paediatric rooms
• One privacy room
• X-ray facility for Emergency Department within footprint of the department
• Relatives room
• Major incident store
• Decontamination fixed and inflatable unit

Neighbouring facilities include:

• GP Out of Hours service (SUFDOC) adjacent to the Emergency Department.
• Discharge unit to facilitate egress of patients to the community and relieve bed pressure.
• Radiology Department with multi-slice spiral CT scanner and MRI scanner, PAC system throughout the Trust.
• Helicopter landing pad for civilian air ambulance or military helicopters. 

Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU) 
The EAU consists of a 25 bedded Emergency Assessment Unit supervised by a Physician of the Day and a Geriatrician of the Day. Its prime role is for the assessment of medical patients.  As part of a pilot, surgical patients are being assessed alongside medial patients in EAU to provide a more streamlined integrated Emergency Assessment service. Future development includes the co-location of EAU adjacent to the Emergency Department.

Strategic Context for the Emergency Department
The long term strategy for emergency medicine is to develop an integrated urgent care facility that combines a surgical and medical assessment unit co-located with the 24/7 Emergency Department with a separate minor injury and illness stream linked to the GP out-of-hours service.

Current Developments
The number of staff grade and clinical fellows is set to increase to eight in the department, with recruitment taking place at present. A Care of the Elderly Physician is to be located across the Emergency Department and EAU to facilitate the rapid review of elderly patients. An observation unit is to be established where investigations can be performed to rule out potentially serious conditions and patients can be observed for a period of time prior to discharge.

Pathways for common admissions are under review both internally and externally with other stakeholders.

The Dermatology Department

Dermatology is the diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases, including acne, psoriasis, eczema and also skin cancers. The staff in the Dermatology Department, West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, specialise in the treatment of these conditions.

Skin conditions are complex and can have a profound effect on those affected. Our aim is to treat patients with skill, confidentiality and understanding.

To be seen in the department your general practitioner needs to organise an appointment for you.

The dermatology department sees over 3,000 new patients a year and performs over 900 skin surgery operations.

Services provided

Common skin conditions normally treated include acne, skin infections, skin cancers, birthmarks, eczema and dermatitis, nail and hair disorders, and psoriasis. Procedures performed include phototherapy, cryotherapy, skin surgery and patch testing.

Cosmetic surgery and the treatment of skin tags is not carried out. Benign lesions are not treated routinely. Warts, with the exception of facial warts and warts in patients who are immunosuppressed, are normally dealt with in general practice. Suspected melanomas and squamous cell cancers are referred through the rapid cancer fax referral service.

Specialist clinics include a consultant-led leg ulcer service, a vulval clinic and a consultant-led paediatric-dermatology service.

Members of the team

Consultants:

Dr. Sue Handfield-Jones (contact: 01284 713404) Dr. Rachel Jenkins (contact: 01284 712644) Dr. Venkat Gudi (contact: 01284 713577) Fax: 712640

To become a dermatology consultant takes years of training and includes a five year medical degree, post-graduate general medical training and then at least three years of specialist dermatology training.

Nurse Specialists:

Marie Retzback Vicki Ayliffe

Dermatology nurse specialists train in general nursing and then do additional training in dermatology. Our nurses specialise in acne, psoriasis and eczema. They also run the department’s ultraviolet light treatment and allergy testing and in addition carry out cryotherapy.

There is a nurse specialist in tissue viability, Leonora Descombes. She advises on the care of inpatients with acute and chronic wounds. There are also outpatient leg ulcer clinics at West Suffolk Hospital and Walnuttree Hospital in Sudbury, run by outpatient nurses with advice from the consultants.

In the near future, clinics will also held by local GPs who will have Diplomas in Dermatology. It is expected that one or two clinics will be held each week, discussing more complex cases with the consultants.

Doctors in training do supervised clinics on Thursday mornings. These doctors are Specialist registrars from Cambridge. They are in full-time training in dermatology and discuss cases with the consultants as needed.

Pharmacy Department

The pharmacy department provides an integrated pharmaceutical service to the West Suffolk Hospital, a busy district general hospital, and also hospitals in Sudbury and Thetford as well as Community Units.

 

The dispensing of outpatient and inpatient prescriptions is under the control of technicians with legal supervision from the pharmacist. The technicians are trained in other aspects of clinical pharmacy including patient counselling, drug history taking and clinical interventions. These suitably trained technicians will assist pharmacists working on the ward to fulfil their clinical role. Quality assurance, which has traditionally been pharmacist led, has changed to a technician led service. These changes have improved the promotion prospects for pharmacy technicians.

Near-patient Pharmacy

A number of our wards are provided with a near-patient pharmacy service that includes:

• Taking accurate drug histories
• Providing prescribing advice
• Discharge planning / counselling
• Nurse education
• Improving compliance with prescribing policies and hospital formulary
• Optimising re-use of patient's own drugs
• Supplying medication to wards
• Patient counselling

'One stop' Dispensing

We have introduced 'one stop' dispensing throughout the hospital. Patients are encouraged to bring all their medication from home that will be stored in a secure bedside locker, to ensure there is no break in treatment on admission. Any medication needed will be dispensed ready for discharge to improve efficiency.

Contacts

Dispensary:	01284 713232
Head of department:	01284 713230
Medicines Information:	01284 713109
Production Suite:	01284 713942
Stores:	01284 713540
Pharmacy Office:	01284 713233

Members of the team

The pharmacy department employs approximately 60 staff. We have senior technicians for the clinical, ward and production areas and a team of ward and dispensary based pharmacists and technicians. We also employ secretarial and clerical officers, storekeepers and pharmacy assistants who provide an important role within the whole department.

The Anaesthetic Department & related services

Our Anaesthetic Department aims to provide a comprehensive service to the West Suffolk Hospital. We work closely with most other departments in delivering patient centered care and are involved in some way with over half the patients attending the hospital, from Main / Day Surgery Theatres to the Maternity Unit.

This work ranges from timely assessment and preparation for your operation, through delivering appropriate types of sleep and pain relief, to supervision of post operative care in the recovery ward or critical care unit. We lead the multi disciplinary Acute Pain Team with the aim of ensuring your time spent on the wards is as comfortable as possible. Services Provided

Pre Assessment Unit

We lead a multidisciplinary team that aims to ensure each patient requiring an operation is appropriately prepared and that their general health is optimized prior to their admission. This will streamline admissions and deliver a safe patient focused episode of care.

Theatre Services

We provide all forms of anaesthesia for most types of surgical operations. This can range from the use of local anaesthetic injections to numb specific nerves, thro’ “spinal” and “epidural” techniques to the use of various medicines (injections or gasses ) to produce a state full general anaesthetic unconciousness.

What ever form the anaesthetic takes, a fully trained doctor will be present thro’ out the surgical procedure to monitor both the level of anaesthetic and your body’s reaction to it. They will be responsible to ensure you wake up comfortably in the recovery ward, where further observation will take place before you return to the ward.

The Acute pain team

The Acute pain service exists to minimize pain and facilitate recovery especially in the post-operative patient. Two full time clinical nurse specialists staff the service and there are consultant anaesthetist led ward rounds twice weekly. The acute pain service manages patient controlled analgesia, epidural analgesia and other specialized forms of pain relief using the best available evidence to inform its practice. The service accepts referrals from across the trust and offers a rapid response to those suffering from unmanageable pain.

Maternity services

Approximately 2600 mothers are booked for obstetric care at the West Suffolk Hospital each year. Currently about 40% of these mothers are under midwifery led care and 60% under the care of six consultant obstetricians. Anaesthetists provide a 24 hour service, providing epidural pain relief for labour as well as providing a full range of anaesthetic options for Caesarean deliveries.

The current LSCS rate is 25%, 85% of these being performed under regional blockade (spinal or epidural). 15% of labouring mothers choose to have an epidural.

Each month two consultant anaesthetists hold a clinic for mothers who require additional anaesthetic assessment prior to their delivery. Your midwife or obstetrician is able to refer you.

In January 2008, the West Suffolk Maternity Service achieved the top level 3 CNST (Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts) award, being the only unit in East Anglia to do so and only one of 20 units in the entire country, emphasizing our commitment to providing safe care for both mother and baby. Main Contact Numbers

Anaesthetic department:
tel: 01284 712819
fax: 01284 713100

Where are we?

The Anaesthetic Department is situated on the 1st floor, in the central core, between theatre recovery and the critical care unit.

Members of the team

Dr C N Adams, MA, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist

Dr S Bouline, FFARCSI
Locum Consultant Anaesthetist

Dr J E Boys, BSc, FRCA
Locum Consultant Anaesthetist

Dr L Bright, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist,College Tutor.

Dr A M Burns, MRCP, FRCA
Critical Care and Associate Dean

Dr J Cardy, FRCA
Lead Clinician Critical Care

Dr P S Chrispin, MSc FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist, Critical Care

Dr A Christensen, MD
Joint Lead Clinician in Day Surgery, Consultant Anaesthetist

Dr C Duke, BSc, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist (Obstetric interest)

Lt Col J Field, FFARCSI, RAMC
Consultant Anaesthetist, Paramedic Training

Dr I Frost FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist, Critical Care

Dr L Jeynes FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist, Chronic Pain interest

Dr N Levy, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist Critical Care, acute pain and governance lead

Dr S Lowe, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist Critical Care and Clinical Director, Theatre services

Dr A Majeed, FRCA
Joint Lead Clinician in Day Surgery, Consultant Anaesthetist

Dr J Mauger BSc, FRCA Lead Clinician in Paediatric Anaesthesia. Chairman of Resuscitation Committee

Dr D Meldrum, FRCA
Chairman of Division and Lead Consultant in Obstetric Anaesthesia

Dr P Mills, MRCP, FRCA
Consultant in Anaesthesia and Lead for the Acute Pain Team

Dr M Palmer PhD FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist and Critical Care, Medical School Co-ordinator.

Dr N W Penfold, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist (Obstetric interest) Head of School (anaesthesia) for Eastern Region

Dr J Slade, BA FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist

Dr J Urquhart, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist

Dr K Williams, FRCA
Consultant Anaesthetist and Lead in Difficult Airway Management

We have 12 doctors on rotation at any one time training to become anaesthetists.

Anaesthetic secretariat

Jackie Brennan and Jane Theobald

Acute Pain Team

Clinical Nurse Specialists: Christine Waters, Alison Morris, Heather Riggs and Dawn Pretty.