Meet the Teams

The Acute Oncology Team (AOT) ensures that cancer patients who are admitted to our hospital have optimal management of their treatment, or cancer related complication, with timely discharge and onward referral to oncology/palliative care services.

If a patient presents with a new cancer diagnosis, but doesn’t currently fit on an existing cancer pathway, they will have a quick assessment and appropriate investigation of their condition with a rapid decision on management. This will be done as follows:

• Defining standardised patient pathways for common presentations
• Cooperation with medical, surgical, haematological and urgent care services to deliver robust clinical protocols for emergent problems
• Cooperation with radiology and pathology services to deliver a rapid diagnostic pathway
• Education and training to raise standards
• Prospective data collection and real-time performance management
• Regular clinical audit
• Implementation of local, national and international directives
• Engagement with clinical research protocols where feasible
• Provision of comprehensive information to patients and carers
• Involvement of patients and carers in appraisal and redesign of the service

This treatment service is available to men and women who have a diagnosis of bladder cancer. This condition is diagnosed by a Consultant urologist and treatment is then arranged by the Urology Nurse Practitioners.

Our clinic is held at Clatterbridge Hospital every Wednesday afternoon. The treatment consists of a therapeutic solution administered into the bladder of the patient. The treatment is initially given weekly then at the discretion of the Consultant Urologist.

We have seven colorectal surgeons who are based at Arrowe Park Hospital (although we do carry out some clinics at Clatterbridge Hospital and Victoria Central Hospital). They are supported by a team of Clinical Nurse Specialists, care co-ordinators, one Nurse Consultant, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Stoma Nurses.

The team will get together each week in which all patients with suspected or diagnosed cancer are discussed. Plans for treatment are then agreed.

The team also work in the Endoscopy Unit and carry out diagnostic scopes of the bowel. Sometimes they will take samples of tissue as part of the procedure in order to diagnose your problem.

They also look after patients recovering from major bowel surgery who may need support with their nutrition post operatively. In addition, the team also run specialist clinics for inflammatory bowel disease, anaemia, pelvic floor and functional bowel disorders, abdominal wall hernias, as well as piles and fissures for patients who may need support with their nutrition both pre and post operatively.

If you require any further information regarding bowel cancer please visit the Macmillan website (See 'Related Links').

The Wirral Breast Clinic is located at the Clatterbridge Hospital main site, as part of Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust.

We offer a comprehensive range of services including breast screening; rapid access to diagnostic tests; breast surgery and family history assessment, in a supportive and friendly environment.

We focus on the care of patients who present with breast symptoms following referral by their GP or another speciality. We treat people with both breast cancer and non-cancerous issues.

Following referral into the service, you will be seen in our Triple Assessment Clinic. At this appointment you will be offered a combination of tests and examinations to determine a diagnosis.

This may involve a biopsy which will be offered on the day if required. An appointment will be given to receive these results.

Wirral Breast Centre offers a full range of breast surgery, on site at Clatterbridge Hospital, including breast conserving, oncoplastic and reconstruction. We also work closely with Whiston Hospital who can provide more complex reconstructive surgery options if needed.

Following surgery, you will be seen by our wound team, at the breast clinic, who will manage all wound care, including dressings. The wound care clinic is appointment-based and is available Monday to Friday.

There are a team of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS’s) within the Breast Care Unit who work as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) to provide specialist support and advice for patients. They may sometimes be referred to as your keyworker. The CNS team will be available to support you during your clinic appointment/s and can also be contacted directly, by telephone and / or the patient portal, regarding any of your concerns. CNS’s are able to manage the individual needs of their patients, and carers, as required through the delivery of personalised care; this includes the assessment of individual needs (Holistic Needs Assessment), care planning and delivery of Health & Well-being events.

The breast team work closely with the oncology team at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust to deliver individualised treatment.
Clinical trials may be discussed with you as part of your treatment plan.

You will be provided with the contact details for the services should you require further support.

Colposcopy is a detailed examination of the cervix using a special microscope called a colposcope. It is required as part of the NHS Cervical Screening Program to investigate women who have had abnormal cervical smears and to help decide if treatment is needed.

Most women who have an abnormal smear will not develop cervical cancer, and the colposcopic examination helps to identify the women who are at high risk and arrange for them to be treated before the abnormality becomes serious.

The unit also sees women who have been noted to have an abnormality or abnormal symptoms of either the cervix vagina or vulva.

Services Available

• Colposcopy, vaginoscopy and vulvoscopy (Microscope examination of the cervix, vagina or vulva)
• Diagnosis and treatments including biopsy and loop excision

Routine Investigations:
Patients will be seen by a doctor or specialist nurse where an examination will be performed. If an abnormality is detected this will normally be removed on the same visit using local anaesthetic.

Appointments

If you have an abnormal smear then you should receive an appointment automatically from the screening laboratory. For other problems your GP or nurse will refer you directly and an appointment will be sent out to you. We regret that you will not be able to refer yourself.

Once we have received the colposcopy referral from your GP or clinic, you will receive details of your appointment within three to five days.

Your referral details are seen by a doctor who will then decide how soon you need an appointment, depending on the degree of abnormality and other factors in your medical history.

For urgent cases you will be seen within two weeks; ‘soon’ cases within two to four weeks; and routine cases within four and six weeks.

If you have any queries about being referred to the Colposcopy Unit please contact the clerks on 0151 604 7775.

Opening Times

Moday to Friday 8.00am to 6.00pm

All clinics, and most surgery, for gynaecological conditions are based at Arrowe Park Hospital, although any complex ovarian surgery is performed at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

The gynaecology team meets on alternate weeks in which tests and investigations are reviewed and discussed and treatment plans agreed.

Services provided by the unit include, colposcopy clinic, vulval clinic, cancer clinic, pelvic mass clinic and outpatient hysteroscopy service.

The Haematology teams for Wirral University Teaching Hospital and the Countess of Chester Hospital work closely together to provide specialist services to the population of Wirral and Chester.

Our Trust has three Haematology Consultants, one Clinical Nurse Specialist for haematology and one Clinical Nurse Specialist for chemotherapy.

The haematology department is based on the third floor at Arrowe Park Hospital and has facilities for outpatients, day case patients and inpatients within the department.

The team meets weekly in which tests and investigations will be reviewed, discussed and treatment plans agreed.

A rapid diagnostic service (RDS) is in place for suspected head and neck cancers. Our aim is to diagnose or rule out cancer within 28 days.
RDS can include same day biopsies and designated slots for scans.

Our team includes:

• Helen Beer, Cancer Lead

Four ear nose and throat (ENT) surgeons:

• Mr Gerry O’Sullivan
• Mr Venkat Srinivasan
• Miss Helen Beer
• Miss Bethan Jones

Three maxillofacial surgeons:

• Professor Simon Rogers
• Mr Carl Jones
• Mr Stanley Parikh

• Visiting consultants from Aintree Attend clinics.

• Mr Owais Khattak, H&N Maxillofacial Surgeon  (weekly)

• Mr Christopher Loh, H&N ENT Surgeon  (bi weekly)

• Dr Caroline Brammer, Oncologist  (bi weekly)

• Sister Ursula Scully, Clinic Manager 

• Dr Haworth, Head and Neck Radiologist 

• Adam Cameron, Radiographer

• Sainu Jose and Katy Gaskell, H&N Cancer Specialist Nurses 

• Emma James, H&N Cancer Care Coordinator 

• Gail Bailey, Head and Neck Speech and Language Therapist 

Most head and neck cancer treatment takes place at Aintree Hospital or Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool. Surgery is performed at WUTH for the majority of thyroid cancers and subsequent treatment is with Nuclear Medicine if required.

Contact details

Head and Neck CNS team direct dial 0151 604 7398

The CNS team is available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm for physical and mental wellbeing advice, symptom advice, appropriate referrals and psychological support. Patients are followed up for five years, and support is available beyond this.

Our local lung cancer team consists of local chest physicians, specialist nurses, radiologists, pathologists with close links to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology and Hospice services. We meet weekly as a team to discuss on-going management of all patients under our care (this includes consultant surgical and oncology colleagues).

Most people are referred to the service after a CT scan. If a CT scan has not been done it is likely this will be the first step. All referrals are reviewed by a respiratory consultant daily with a detailed report of the CT scan and all available electronic healthcare records. Following this review all patients are contacted by a specialist nurse to inform them of outcome. If further investigations are required patients are contacted by one of our lung specialist nurses to explain the process and contact information is given.

Locally we offer a full range of diagnostic tests including bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), dedicated pleural clinic and medical thoracoscopy. If required we will arrange the most appropriate test to investigate possible lung cancer. Very occasionally we may need to arrange investigations at another hospital if we cannot arrange locally. You may also require detailed lung function testing or occasionally exercise testing which are arranged in our dedicated respiratory laboratory.

As part of standard investigation and treatment you may be asked to be involved in clinical trials which are run locally. This will be explained at your outpatient appointments.

If you require any further information regarding your lung cancer please see the 'Related links' on the left.

Members of Lung Cancer MDT

Consultant Chest Physicians:

· Dr A Wight (Lung Cancer lead physician) Dr Z Wahbi Dr J Corless Dr A Bull Dr H Tan Dr A Hufton

Lung cancer Nurse specialists-

· Kay Hughes

· Paula Deus

· Rachel Manning

Consultant Thoracic Surgeons:

· Mr M Shackcloth

Consultant Oncologists:

· Dr A Pope

· Dr R Griffiths

Consultant Radiologists:

· Dr V Williamson

· Dr D Hughes

· Dr Y Jones

Consultant Histopathologists/Cytologists:

· Dr K Gumparthy

The Non-Specific Rapid Diagnosis Service (NS RDS) is part of the NHS Cancer Programme to speed up cancer diagnosis and improve patient’s experience. The intended cohort for NS RDS would be those patients with concerning symptoms suspicious of a cancer diagnosis but not fitting into a ‘site specific’ urgent cancer pathway. 

The aims of the service are:

• An earlier and faster diagnosis for patients, whether or not they are diagnosed with cancer
• Excellent patient experience, a holistic assessment of patient needs, and streamlined support across community, primary and secondary care
• Increase capacity in the urgent cancer referral system as a whole, through more efficient diagnostic pathways and reduction in duplication of imaging.

There will be dedicated weekly CT slots for the NS rapid diagnosis referrals and the team will be meet weekly in a MDT to discuss outcomes and further management. This means that CT scans will able to be performed and reported faster than the current direct access imaging.

As a new service the team encourage referrers to seek advice prior to referral if they are not sure if the pathway is suitable for their patients.

We welcome contact via the NS RDS email address; wuth.non-specific-symptomsrds@nhs.net or direct dial 0151- 482-7824 (Internal extension 3273)

The service can be found on ERS under Specialty: 2WW

2WW Non-Specific Symptoms RDS Referral Assessment Service - Arrowe Park Hospital RBL

Care Navigator- Karen Church- 0151 482 7824

Advanced Nurse Practitioner- Jessica Gilmore

Clinical Lead- Dr Alison Hufton

We are based at WUTH and office hours 9-5pm Mon-Fri

The dermatology service has four consultant dermatologists, speciality doctors and rotating specialist registrars along a skin cancer clinical nurse specialist.

The dermatology department is situated at Clatterbridge Hospital and has an out-patient department that provides outpatient clinics, minor skin surgery and photodynamic therapy. There is an outreach dermatology clinic in Victoria Central Hospital.

The local skin multidisciplinary team (LMDT) meets weekly and discusses all skin cancers diagnosed and treated in WUTH and in primary care.

The LMDT includes the maxillofacial and oculoplastic surgeons and an oncologist. We also refer patients to the plastics surgeons at Merseyside and West Lancashire Trust (specialist skin MDT SSMDT) and Countess of Chester.

If you require any additional information regarding skin cancer please refer to the British Association of Dermatologists patient information leaflets.

The upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer service is situated at Arrowe Park Hospital and consists of one consultant and two upper GI clinical nurse specialists. We work in collaboration with Liverpool University Foundation Trust (LUFT) and the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology. We have a super-regional weekly meeting (multidisciplinary team or MDT) to discuss diagnosis, staging, treatment, and management of all our patients. This consists of specialists from the Cheshire and Merseyside area, and includes upper GI surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiologists, oncologists, histopathologists, anaesthetists, dietitians, and specialist nurses.

Following referral to the service our patients will be contacted by one of our specialist nurses, this would normally be in the endoscopy department once cancer has been detected. Our specialist nurses will keep in regular contact with each patient and arrange any further necessary investigations prior to MDT. Following MDT, each patient is reviewed by our lead cancer nurse specialist in the outpatient department and information regarding diagnosis and treatment is discussed and onward referrals made.

Locally we offer a range of diagnostic investigations and procedures including gastroscopy, various radiological imaging, endoscopic ultrasound, oesophageal dilatation, oesophageal stenting, pyloric Botox, NG/NJ insertion and RIG placements. On occasion investigations may be conducted at the regional upper GI centre based in LUFT (Liverpool site) and may include advanced endoscopic procedures, staging laparoscopy, and surgery. Investigations to establish lung and heart function may be required prior to starting treatment and these will be performed within our respiratory and cardiac departments.

Our service also includes ongoing support, assessment and follow up for each patient and includes nurse led post operative follow up clinics, nurse led post oncology follow up clinics, post stent clinics, symptom management clinics and holistic needs assessment clinics. There is also a dedicated telephone advice line that each patient has access to.

If you require any further information, please refer to the links on the left.

To refer to the upper GI team please contact wih-tr.UpperGICNS@nhs.net.

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The urology team consists of 8 Consultant Urologists Mr Snehal Patel and Mr James Glendenning, 3 Uro-Oncology Nurses and 3 Advanced Nurse Practitioners. As well as the local area, the team also treats patients referred from Isle of Man and North Wales.

The urology team has clinics at Arrowe Park Hospital, Clatterbridge Hospital and Victoria Central Health Centre in Wallasey. Surgery is carried out at both Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge Hospitals.

The urology team will have weekly meetings for all the speciality areas within urology. These areas include; kidney, bladder, prostate, penile and testicular.

We are the specialist urology team for the South Mersey region. Patients from the Countess of Chester Hospital and Warrington Hospital will be referred here to our Trust. If you are diagnosed with penile cancer, we may refer you to the Christie Hospital in Manchester for your procedure.

The Wirral Hepatobiliary (HPB) Service was introduced in 2008, is the only dedicated HPB cancer team within the Merseyside & Cheshire region and is a member of the Merseyside & Cheshire HPB Clinical Network Group. 

The team is comprised of four Consultants (Drs Singhal, Dr Noorullah, Dr Taha, Dr Summers, Dr Kia, Dr Matthews, Dr Singhal, Dr Ramanaden), two Clinical Nurse Specialists and a valued support team consisting of Consultant Secretaries, MDT co-ordinator and administration clerk, all working collaboratively with health care professionals local and regionally, patients and their families.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is a non-tertiary centre, working in close collaboration with the specialist regional centres which include University Hospital Aintree (suspected primary cancers affecting the liver, gall bladder or the bile duct (above the cystic duct)) and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital (suspected primary cancers affecting the pancreas and the bile duct (below the cystic duct)).  For patients requiring chemotherapy, effective collaboration with Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is also required again, ensuring timely referral for consultation and treatment. 

Patients are referred to the Wirral HPB service in the event of:

• Suspected cancer of the liver, gall bladder, bile duct, pancreas, duodenum
• Indeterminate lesion / dysplastic nodules
• Intra-ductal papillary neoplasm (IPMN)
• Follicular nodular hyperplasia (FNH)
• Adenoma / Haemangioma / Complex liver cysts

Following referral, discussion of the patient’s case at the appropriate MDT is arranged.   

Surveillance programmes are in operation for those with potentially pre-cancerous lesions including:

• intra-ductal papillary neoplasm (IPMN) (approximately 500 patients under active monitoring)
• Indeterminate lesion / dysplastic nodules, follicular nodular hyperplasia (FNH), adenoma, haemangioma, complex liver cysts

To refer to this service, please direct a detailed letter (which should include information regarding the reason for referral, past medical history, current medication, performance status and patient insight) to Joanne Kirkham, Gastroenterology Secretary, Second floor, Arrowe Park Hospital.

Please send urgent referrals via email to the Urgent Referral Gastroenterology Secretaries on wuth.urgentreferrals@nhs.net.