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The South East Coast Region, known for its outstanding natural beauty, comprises 11 hospitals spread around a fairly large area. The region encourages a good lifestyle as well as providing the ability to maintain valuable academic and workforce-based links with the London teaching hospitals. The unique strength of the hospitals in this region lies in their ability to provide a good mixture of core training and, at the same time, to provide exposure to innovative surgery. |
Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals
Ashford & St Peter's Hospital comprises 5 Consultants with wide sub-specialty interests, assisted by two Specialist Registrars.
The Trust is a pelvic cancer centre and provides training in open & laparoscopic pelvic surgery, including radical prostatectomy, cystectomy and reconstruction.
Upper tract laparoscopy is also available and there is a comprehensive stone service. We use unique metallic stents for complex ureteric strictures and for BPH.
There is a full range of core urology, together with urodynamics, erectile dysfunction clinics and nurse-led clinics both for cancers and for BPH. There is good middle-grade cover with supporting juniors.
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
The Trust is a teaching hospital providing secondary and tertiary services on two inpatient sites (Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton and Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath). We provide urology services for a population of approximately 500,000 people.
Currently, 9 Consultants work in the department (either full-time or part-time). Two Associate Specialists with a number of Specialist Nurses and Trust-grade doctors contribute service roles whilst the department is responsible for three urology trainees, two core trainees and a number of foundation doctors, as well as undergraduates from Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS).
The department delivers the wide range of services expected of a teaching hospital with a large catchment population. General urology and endourology, including stone treatments and laser prostate surgery, are mostly undertaken at Princess Royal Hospital, whilst major open surgery and most laparoscopic urology is performed at Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH); RSCH is the major cancer centre and is where emergency urology is admitted. RSCH also provides a renal unit, vascular & cardiac surgery and all inpatient oncology, so that the most complex of cases, including reconstruction, are managed on this site.
Click here to see recent publications from the Brighton unit.
Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford
The Urology Department in Darent Valley Hospital is a progressive, modern department with excellent staff and facilities.
Darent Valley Hospital was the first PFI hospital built in the country and is well-maintained, even today, after a decade of use. The hospital is situated just outside M25 motorway with good train and road connections. There are two train stations (Dartford and Greenhithe) in close proximity and the Ebbsfleet terminus, from where high speed trains take you to London, St Pancras or to continental Europe, is close by. Bluewater shopping centre, one of Europe's largest, is situated next to the hospital.
The department provides treatment to all the common urological problems including prostate and lower urinary tract problems, advanced andrology, stone disease, laparoscopic surgery and cryotherapy. There is also urodynamics and a well-equipped day-case centre. The Gyrus bipolar system and "green light" laser are used for prostatic resection.
The departments of urology in Dartford and our neighbouring trust, Medway Maritime Hospital, are merging as one department in two centres and the process is in a very advanced stage. As part of this reconfiguration pelvic cancers will be treated at Medway and all the stone cases managed in Dartford.
There is a comprehensive Stone Centre with a static, dual-focus lithotripter, two Holmium laser machines, lithoclast Master and other energy devices. All modalities of stone treatment are provided in the centre including PCNL. The centre also has a metabolic stone clinic and there is a formal stone MDT with the nephrologists. The centre is becoming a regional centre with referrals from all the neighbouring urology departments.
Currently the department has three full time consultants and two part time consultants. A fourth full-time post, specialising in female urology, is being advertised.
The Consultant Urological Surgeons are:
| Mr IK Dickinson | Head of Department
Lower urinary tract problems & andrology |
| Mr S Madaan | Pelvic cancer surgery & laparoscopy |
| Mr HP Marsh | Stone surgery |
| Mr JH Palmer | Stone surgery |
| Mr S Sriprasad | Stone surgery & upper tract laparoscopy |
The department is also supported by a Specialist Registrar, Associate Specialist, middle grade and junior doctors, as well as nurse specialists and cancer coordinators. The department is active in clinical and portfolio research, teaching, presentations at national and international meetings and publications.
Overall, Dartford/Medway is a progressive department with ever-increasing referrals, clinical work and research activities.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals serving a local population of around 720,500 people. We also provide satellite renal services to Medway & Maidstone Hospitals.
Our department consists of a team of seven Consultants, one Associate Specialist, two Specialist Registrars, seven Staff Grade doctors, two core trainees, two FY2s and three FY1s.
There is a dedicated, 30-bed urology ward, with additional provision for 6 trolleys for day-case surgery. Kent & Canterbury Hospital (where urology is based) provides emergency care facilities but the Accident & Emergency Departments are at Ashford & Margate.
East Surrey Hospital, Surrey & Sussex NHS Trust
East Surrey Hospital has a thriving, dynamic urology department offering comprehensive core and advanced urological training.
The department has three Consultants, three senior Associate Specialists, one Specialist Registrar and a full complement of FY and CT trainees.
Most sub-specialties are represented, with particular focus on laser prostatectomy, innovative urological laparoscopy and several aspects of reconstruction.
Feedback from trainees regarding the quality and type of training received has been consistently excellent.
Click here to see recent publications from the Easy Surrey unit.
Eastbourne District General Hospital
Eastbourne District General Hospital is one of two sites in the East Sussex Hospitals Trust, the other being the Conquest Hospital in Hastings. Eastbourne DGH now performs all inpatient operating and is responsible for after-hours emergency care while full day-case and outpatient services remain in Hastings.
The hospital has six Consultants and two Specialist Registrars with the possibility of a third in the near future. There are also five highly experienced, middle-grade doctors who provide support for the EWTD-compliant rota.
At present, one Registrar is exposed to a great deal of minor operating and can expect to become proficient in TURPs with Consultant supervision at all times. The second Registrar alternates between developing expert level skills in all aspects of stone surgery under the care of Mr Graham Watson, a world renowned expert in endourology, and developing proficiency in upper tract laparoscopy with Mr Peter Rimington and Mr Steve Garnett. The Department has pioneered laparoscopic cystectomy and now performs laparoscopic prostatectomy for all Sussex patients. The third post will alternate between laparoscopic pelvic surgery and female urology with Mr James Moore.
Mr Roger Plail is Divisional Director of Training and can be approached for additional information on these placements.
The department maintains close links with London Teaching Hospitals as well as with Brighton & Sussex Medical School and looks forward to a bright future with further integration of services across the county.
Many of our trainees have become proficient and capable urological surgeons in their own right, with little or no further training needed. Do not apply for these posts if you are not prepared to cope with immediate hands-on training!
Frimley Park Hospital
The urology department at Frimley Park comprises six Consultants, one Staff Grade, one Laparoscopic Fellow, two SpRs from the South Thames' rotation and four junior staff (2 CTs and 2 FY2s).
We are a friendly department, fully supported by the Division of Surgery, and we have a full armamentarium of urological technology. We undertake a wide range of "office" and specialist urology but no radical pelvic cancer surgery. We have specialist interests in minimally-invasive renal surgery (robotic & laparoscopic) and in urinary stones (PCNL, flexible ureterorenoscopy, rigid ureteroscopy & holmium laser lithotripsy). We have a dedicated endourology suite with Olympus equipment, including blue-light cystoscopy & narrow-band imaging. We have the latest, high-powered, green light laser and undertake a mix of laser & TURIS prostatectomy.
There are specialist interests in prostate cancer diagnosis (we have pioneered the template biopsy technique) and in female urology. In addition, we have a dedicated andrology service.
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust provides urological services for a population of 500,000 across three hospital sites in West Kent and East Sussex. Inpatient urology is based at Maidstone Hospital, with day surgery and diagnostic procedures being performed at Kent & Sussex Hospital and clinics at Pembury Hospital.
A state-of-the-art new hospital on the Pembury site is due to open in Autumn 2011.
The department comprises four Consultants, one Associate Specialist, two Staff Grades, one Specialist Registrar, two Core Trainees, and two Foundation Year doctors. The medical staff are supported by two nurse practitioners and two cancer nurse specialists.
Specialist interests include pelvic oncology, laparoscopic prostatectomy and nephrectomy, brachytherapy, complex stone surgery, holmium laser enucleation of the prostate and renal cryoablation. The Kent Oncology Centre, regional Gynaecology Oncology service, and laparoscopic Colorectal Department are also located at Maidstone and we work closely with these specialities.
A new education centre with a dry lab simulation facility opened at Maidstone Hospital last year. Trainees are encouraged to spend a large proportion of their time in the operating theatre in this placement and generally obtain excellent operative exposure during their time here.
Click here to see recent publications from the Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells unit.
Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford
The urology department at the Royal Surrey County Hospital is widely-regarded regionally, and nationally, as a leading centre for introducing innovative, minimally-invasive treatments for urological patients.
The department is staffed by four Consultant Urological Surgeons, one Specialist Registrar, one Associate Specialist, two FY2s, two FY1s and three GPWSIs who have formal training in urology.
Specialised services are centred on the delivery of care to prostate cancer patients. Guildford is an internationally-recognised centre for prostate brachytherapy, having treated more than 1000 patients. Similar numbers have been treated by laparoscopic prostatectomy. Cryotherapy & HIFU for prostate cancer have also been introduced.
Consultant-led andrology services are available, dealing with erectile dysfunction, male infertility, Peyronie's disease & hormonal problems. A specialised penile cancer service is also located in Guildford.
With its close links to the Minimal Access Therapy Unit (MATTU) in Guildford and the Postgraduate Medical School at the University of Surrey, the department is closely involved in scientific and clinical research.
Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust
Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust is a new trust with three hospitals serving a population of around 500,000 patients. The main inpatient sites are at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester and Worthing Hospital. Outpatient services and day case surgery are provided at Southlands Hospital in Shoreham. There are strong links with Brighton and the trust has been awarded university hospital status by Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
The department has a team of seven Consultants, one Associate Specialist, two Staff Grades, two Specialist Registrars, three Trust Grades, two core surgical trainees and four FY doctors. The medical team is supported by four specialist nurses and one cancer nurse specialist.
There is a full range of core urology. Special interests include reconstruction, female urology, PCNL and upper tract laparoscopy. Pelvic cancer surgery is performed by three of the consultants at the cancer centre in Brighton.
