 | The curriculum in London North is constructed to train urologists who will be able to work independently to the standard of a general Consultant, such as one who works in a District General Hospital or equivalent. Competencies, both nonoperative and operative, are assessed regularly and should be complete by the final year of training. |
Barnet & Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust
Barnet & Chase Farm Hospitals serve a local population of about 500,000 for general and emergency urology and also are also a Urology Cancer centre serving a population of 1 million. The department has five Consultant Urologists, one Associate Specialist, two Staff Grade doctors and three SpR trainees. We also have seven Specialist Nurses
Barnet Hospital provides our day surgery, flexible cystoscopy, TRUS biopsy and urodynamics, as well as general outpatient clinics and pelvic oncology clinics. Chase Farm Hospital is our inpatient base for elective and emergency urology as well as cancer centre cases; general urological outpatient clinics and renal surgery clinics take place here
The Trust acquired a Da Vinci Robotic system in January 2010, based at Chase Farm Hospital, and there is an active robotic programme for renal and pelvic cancer. We were the first unit in the UK to use photodynamic diagnosis routinely for bladder cancer (since 1999) and are recognised as being leaders in this area.
The department performs around 80 radical prostatectomies, 25 radical cystectomies and 60 renal cancer operations per annum
We offer a comprehensive urological service and the SpRs participate on a 1-in-4 on-call rota with no night cover. SpRs are also expected to attend the regular Friday teaching programme held at University College Hospital.
Click here to see recent publications from the Barnet & Chase Farm unit.
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Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
On 1 October 2007, the UK's first Academic Healthcare Science Centre (AHSC) was established in North West London when Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust was created by merging the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust (Hammersmith, Queen Charlottes and Charing Cross Hospitals) and St Mary's Hospital, and integrating with Imperial College London. The Trust is now the largest in the country with an annual turnover of over £700 million.
The Trust was awarded the status of a generic Biomedical Research Centre by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) in 2006 for its excellence in translational and clinical research
Imperial College London has a campus on all main sites and is increasingly integrated with all the clinical specialties. The Clinical Sciences Centre of the Medical Research Council (MRC) is also based at Hammersmith Hospital providing a strong foundation for clinical and scientific research.
The Urology Department is based across three hospital sites: Charing Cross, Hammersmith & St Mary's. There are 9.5 WTE Consultant Urologists with a full complement of junior medical staff in training. The department is led by Mr David Hrouda, Consultant Urological Surgeon and Clinical Lead for Urology and is, ultimately, responsible to Mr Justin Vale, Consultant Urological Surgeon and Clinical Programme Group Director for Surgery.
Most major urological surgery is performed at the Charing Cross and St Mary's sites although there may be some reconfiguration of services in the future.
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Charing Cross Hospital
Charing Cross is a tertiary cancer centre and the cystectomy centre for North West London. There is a strong emphasis on laparoscopy with, in addition, an established stone service, including a lithotripsy unit; the hospital is also a centre for gender reassignment surgery.
There are five Specialist Registrars at the Charing Cross site and, in addition, two Research Registrars who contribute to the on-call rota (1-in-9 from home). The Specialist Registrar at Charing Cross is 'Registrar of the Week' during the daytime, once every five weeks, and is free from the regular timetable during that week. There are two Associate Specialists, two CT1s, one FY2, two FY1s and supporting specialist nursing staff (including a physician's assistant, five Clinical Nurse Specialists and a MacMillan Nurse). The five SpR posts are:
Oncology Fellow
Exposure to laparoscopic & open radical nephrectomy, laparoscopic & robotic partial nephrectomy, laparoscopic pyeloplasty, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, open radical cystoprostatectomy and urinary diversion, including orthotopic bladder reconstruction. The unit performs more than 100 laparoscopic renal operations, 80 laparoscopic radical prostatectomies and over 50 radical cystoprostatectomies each year.
Previous trainees have been able to perform laparoscopic radical nephrectomy independently at the end of their training year. Trainees who intend to become experts in laparoscopic radical prostatectomy will receive modular training in the extraperitoneal approach and the department has close links with Professor Stolzenburg at the Leipzig Department of Urology.
Stone Fellow
Exposure to all aspects of upper tract stone disease, including operative, outpatient and lithotripsy exposure. The SpR has a weekly endourology list for training in flexible URS and PCNL, as well as experience in a high-volume lithotripsy unit. Outpatient exposure to both secondary & tertiary care referrals allows experience in both benign and malignant conditions treated by endourology. The post also covers general urology, including laparoscopy, with a total of four operative sessions each week. As well as weekly ESWL and TRUS-biopsy clinics, the SpR has the opportunity for research and clinical audit in a high-volume tertiary centre. With an integrated uroradiology team, there are plenty of opportunities for training in ultrasound, allowing a motivated trainee a breadth of endourology training.
Oncology / General Urology
The post offers a mix of general and oncological surgery. The oncology focus is on laparoscopic radical nephrectomy & nephroureterectomy. On the Charing Cross site, there are over 100 laparoscopic renal operations each year.
Paediatric / Female Urology / General Urology
The post offers exposure to paediatric urological surgery and outpatient work. In addition, there is exposure to general urology including TURP and incontinence surgery (including TVT).
LUTS / Reconstruction Fellow
This post is suitable for trainees who wish to gain experience of complex functional problems of the lower urinary tract associated with previous cancer care or renal transplantation. Experience includes learning about the comprehensive assessment of urinary tract function using videocystometrography and ultrasound imaging techniques. Surgical exposure includes treatment of post-prostatectomy incontinence, all forms of cystoplasty, bladder & ureteric reconstruction and some core lower urinary tract urology.
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Hammersmith Hospital
The Clinical Sciences Centre of the Medical Research Council (MRC) is based at Hammersmith Hospital providing a strong foundation for clinical and scientific research. Hammersmith Hospital does not, itself, provide a urological service to primary care.
However, a number of specialties based at at the Hammersmith do regularly require major urological input, both advisory and operative. These include the Renal Centre for West London, transplantation, the gynaecology cancer centre for West London, clinical oncology and medical oncology.
Click here to see recent publications from the Hammersmith unit
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St Mary's Hospital
St Mary's is the home of the Trust's robotic radical prostatectomy programme and is a tertiary cancer centre for North West London. It has an established laparoscopic programme and a brachytherapy service.
The Urology Department has two Specialist Registrars, one FY2, two FY1s, one Trust Grade SHO and one Specialist Nurse Practitioner.
The unit is well supported for multidisciplinary working with a dedicated interventional radiologist (Dr Martin Clark), two histopathologists with an interest in urological disease (Dr Marjorie Walker, Dr Jo Lloyd), one clinical oncologist (Dr Simon Stewart) and one medical oncologist (Dr Cathryn Brock) based at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. There are weekly locality and specialist cancer MDT meetings. The locality meeting serves St. Mary's and Chelsea and Westminster patients, while the specialist MDT serves patients from St Mary's, Charing Cross/Hammersmith, Chelsea & Westminster, Ealing, West Middlesex, Hillingdon and Northwick Park Hospitals. This is video-conferenced across the network.
St Mary's opened as one of the five London-wide Trauma centres in 2010, providing exposure to adequate volume of urological trauma (although there is no urological registrar exposure to this out-of-hours).
The SpRs partake in a 1-in-9 on-call rota centred on the Charing Cross site (covering Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's Hospitals and West Middlesex and Ealing Hospitals for urology patients requiring interventional radiology).
Each SpRs weekly job plan consists of attendance at two outpatient clinics (one general and one oncology), a diagnostic flexible cystoscopy list, a central and local MDT and a stone management and benign disease x-ray meeting. This regular x-ray meeting and teaching programme has an emphasis on evidence-based practice and viva type scenarios (good for those contemplating exams). Each week, the SpRs will also complete four operative sessions. For one SpR these are oncology based and for the other SpR they have a focus on complex endoscopic upper tract surgery and core day surgery-based procedures, which are done at the Chelsea and Westminster site. The two SpR posts are:
Oncology
In addition to the local and network MDT and joint uro-oncology meetings, there are two whole-day training operating lists consisting mainly of major uro-oncological surgery and laparoscopy for benign pathology. These lists provide ample opportunity to develop upper tract and pelvic laparoscopic skills, but previous laparoscopy experience is desirable to maximise the benefit of the training opportunity. All three of the consultants performing the above procedures are suitably experienced to provide a rich training environment for SpRs wishing to pursue an interest in uro-oncology. In addition to the above, higher co-morbidity risk patients for TURP and TURBT have their surgery performed on the St Mary's site rather than at the Chelsea and Westminster Treatment centre. This post is most suitable for ST5, 6 or 7.
Stones / General Urology
This post is ideal for an ST4/5 to consolidate core urology. The job offers a good mix of endoscopic and penoscrotal urology as well as exposure to complex upper tract conditions. It allows a systematic approach to managing upper tract stones, TCC/endopyelotomy and complex strictures and is suitable for those wishing to develop these skills. There is cross-cover for the oncology SpR when on leave which offers exposure to major oncology cases, including robotics, as described above.
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King George Hospital, Ilford
King George Hospital is part of Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, and provides acute and elective services to a diverse population of 750,000. The urology department has eight Consultants, each enjoying a busy general urological practice in addition to their subspecialist areas.
Supporting staff include three SpRs, five Trust middle grades and seven training and non-training juniors; the service is well supported by specialist nurses. The department operates a traditional and the junior doctors have a structured educational programme with dedicated theatre, clinic and teaching sessions.
The urology department provides urological cancer services to a large area of North East London and South Essex. We perform 80-100 radical pelvic cancer operations and approximately 70 nephrectomies each year, mostly by laparoscopy.
There is a dedicated urology ward with a well-equipped diagnostic centre and day case theatre adjacent to it, situated close to A&E and main theatres. There is also an active postgraduate centre equipped with a Lap Mentor training simulator and surgical skills lab. The SpRs take part in a 1-in-8 on-call rota with ample junior and senior support and the urology department is popular with trainees who enjoy high volume training in general urology, urological cancer and laparoscopy within a supportive, well-organised environment.
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North Middlesex University Hospital
North Middlesex University Hospital (NMUH) is one of London’s busiest acute hospitals. It covers more than 500,000 people living in the London boroughs of Enfield and Haringey but also serves surrounding areas including Barnet and Waltham Forest. The hospital is approximately 12 miles from the city, has easy access to central London and there are good local facilities, including the newly refurbished Edmonton Green Shopping Centre.
NMUH provides a range of specialist services including oncology, stroke, HIV/AIDS, cardiology, haematology, diabetes, sleep studies, fertility and orthopaedics. The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Department is nationally recognised as a leading centre for these diseases. In addition to the full range of cancer diagnoses and treatment, the Helen Rollason Cancer Support Centre provides supportive services to cancer patients; this is one of only two such centres in London. The A&E Service is one of the busiest in London, seeing over 150,000 patients each year.
The Urology Department was the first to open in a non-teaching hospital, under the late Basil Page. It currently has four Consultants, one SpR, one International Medical Graduate Sponsorship Scheme (IMGSS) Registrar and two Specialist Nurses. The department provides a comprehensive urological service (except for radical renal and pelvic surgery which is performed at the local cancer centre).
The training SpR and IMGSS Registrar work with all the Consultants, thus gaining wide diagnostic and operative experience. They are on a 1 in 5 on-call rota from home with night cover. There is a generous study leave allowance and both are encouraged to attend relevant courses and conferences, as well as Friday teaching in central London. As part of the North Central rotation, the training SpR is expected to carry out a yearly audit project.
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Northwick Park Hospital
Awaiting information from this unit. No information has been received from the urologists in this unit.
Please click on the hospital link below if you require further information about the hospital or if you wish to contact the department through its website.
Royal Free Hospital
The Urology Department at the Royal Free has six Consultants, three Specialty Trainees at ST3-6 level, five FY doctors and five Specialist Nurses. The trust is situated in Hampstead, North London, and has around 900 beds.
Urological care is provided in close collaboration with other specialist services at the Trust, including the regional nephrology unit, kidney transplant programme and the oncology service. The Royal Free is a founder member of UCL Partners Academic Health Science Centre and is an undergraduate campus for UCL Medicine.
Training within the department is based on defined educational objectives for each of three training posts: Renal Surgery, Stones / Endourology and Lower Tract Dysfunction / Female Urology. Trainees attend the weekly regional teaching programme at UCLH and also participate in monthly, department, educational meetings. The department received good reports in the 2010 PMETB Trainee Survey and uses regular feedback from trainees to inform development of services and educational opportunities.
The department plays an active role in the Medical Simulation Centre. Trainees benefit from mentored simulation training and open access to state-of-the-art surgical simulators for skills training throughout their posts.
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Royal London Hospital
Awaiting information from this unit. No information has been received from the urologists in this unit.
Please click on the hospital link below if you require further information about the hospital or if you wish to contact the department through its website.
St Bartholomew's Hospital
Awaiting information from this unit. No information has been received from the urologists in this unit.
Please click on the hospital link below if you require further information about the hospital or if you wish to contact the department through its website.
University College Hospital
University College London Hospitals (UCLH) has the largest urology department in the UK with 20 consultants and 8 Specialist Registrars working alongside nurse specialists and practitioners, national and international clinical fellows and FY2 doctors. The new building, officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 2005, sits right in the heart of London. The Trust serves its local population in Camden ( pictured ) and surrounding boroughs with a broad range of services.
The Urology Department at UCLH offers important training opportunities in subspecialist urology. These come under six subheadings: adolescent urology, andrology, female / reconstruction, male reconstruction, stones
and uro-oncology. These provide access to learning opportunities including microsurgery, complex endourology, robotic surgery, major open surgery and minimally-invasive therapies. These are coupled with state-of-the-art diagnostic support including uroradiology, nuclear medicine and urodynamics. Each of these teams supports the general on-call rota whilst providing patient care and subspecialist training in its own area. The teams work closely together and with other departments such as obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatric urology and general surgery to provide high level patient care.
The department meets weekly for a Governance forum, trainees attend a weekly teaching meeting, as well as the regional scheme, and all London trainees have the opportunity to enroll in the UCL MSc in Urology. The UCLH Urology department was delighted to receive positive feedback from the April 2010 PMETB trainee survey.
Click here to see recent publications from University College Hospital.
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Awaiting information from this unit. No information has been received from the urologists in this unit.
Please click on the hospital link below if you require further information about the hospital or if you wish to contact the department through its website.
Whipps Cross University Hospital
Awaiting information from this unit. No information has been received from the urologists in this unit.
Please click on the hospital link below if you require further information about the hospital or if you wish to contact the department through its website.
Click here to see recent publications from the Whipps Cross unit.
Whittington Hospital
Awaiting information from this unit. No information has been received from the urologists in this unit.
Please click on the hospital link below if you require further information about the hospital or if you wish to contact the department through its website.
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