Every room we added to the design of the Brunel building increased the cost of the building, so we wanted to make sure that all the rooms we built would be well utilised. Traditional Anaesthetic rooms are used for about 5% to 10% of the day and hospitals in most countries in the world don’t have anaesthetic rooms. So, we decided to build our theatres without anaesthetic rooms.

Then we looked at admissions wards and recovery areas. Admission wards are very busy first thing in the morning when patients arrive and recovery areas are very busy later in the day when patients have had their surgery. Both areas have times in the day when they are very quiet. So why not combine those areas so that we have one department which is used throughout the day?

In the Brunel building there are 10 theatres on Level 2 and 14 theatres on Level 3, all have natural light ( 11 directly and 13 borrowed across a corridor). Each theatre suite has a set of single patient rooms called medirooms which are right next to the theatres. On average, there are 3 medirooms per theatre. We used computer modelling to test the timetable for the new theatres to ensure we always have enough medirooms available.

Medirooms have the same equipment as traditional recovery bays. Patients are admitted, prepared for surgery and recovered after surgery in  these rooms so they have a very short journey from the mediroom to theatre and back. This means much less time waiting for patients in theatre after they have been sent for. Patients having surgery only need to go to a bed on a ward if they have to be in hospital for a day or longer to recover.

The way we have designed theatres in the Brunel building, means that patients have a simpler journey in and out of theatres with a private room to prepare and recover in - a much nicer experience.

The Brunel building has 34 imaging rooms, including 4 MRI and 4 CT scanners.

The new facilities allow for more patients to be treated using interventional radiology where a full theatre suite is not required for their treatment.

There are 4 imaging rooms of this type.

Overall, the Brunel building increased the diagnostic capacity by 23% through a combination of better facilities, but primarily, better design and organisation to maximise the efficiency of these services.

Hospital at Home provides acute healthcare to patients in the comfort of their own home.

The service is delivered by our team of specially trained nurses who visit each patient in their home to deliver the care they need.

The Hospital at Home team work closely with each patient and their team of doctors and consultants to develop a personalised care plan that can be delivered at home. The team will schedule regular visits, daily or more frequently, dependent on individual need, to deliver the treatment and care required. Patients will also have access to advice and support outside of their visits.  

Whilst receiving treatment as part of the Hospital at Home service patients remain under the care of their hospital consultant, and are only discharged from us once they have completed their treatment programme.

Why feedback is important

We are passionate about listening to the feedback we receive from our patients and carers. It is vital to improving and guiding our services and helps maintain caring, exceptional and safe care.

The importance of feedback is not what is collected but what is done with it.

We respond to your feedback by listening to you, and then communicating with management, as well as clinical and non-clinical staff. We make changes, praise staff and investigate where we need to. This page is where we tell you what changes we have made in response to your feedback.

Doctors

Dr Robert Przemioslo
Dr Melanie Lockett
Dr Ana Terlevich
Dr Zeino Zeino
Dr Leonard Griffiths
Dr Sam Murray
Dr Ankur Srivastava
Dr James Maurice
Dr Vipin Gupta
Dr Susanna Meade

Physician Associate

Rebecca Noller

Nurse specialists

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Debbie Corris
Rebecca Antliff
Karen Allard
Wendy Parry

Liver

Katharine Caddick
Lisa Lillywhite 

Alcohol Team

Sally Quigley
Tracy Rogers
Rebecca Evans
Sandra Westwell 

Ryan Quinn
Sarah Smyth - Peer Support Volunteer

Paul Adams - Transplant Peer Support Volunteer

Specialist Pharmacists 

Rebecca Chalker
Edward Plant

Dieticians

Bridie Watson
Sarah McKenna

Management Team

Graham Bartlett - General Manager
Abigail Warren - Specialty Manager
Megan Smith - Support Manager

Secretaries 

Abbie McDonnell    Dr Zeino, Dr Meade
Sally Bale               Dr. Griffiths, Dr. Terlevich
Debra Heath           Dr. Murray, Dr. Lockett
Joanne Hartry         Dr. Przemioslo, Dr. Srivastava
Jana Mickova         Dr. Maurice, Dr Gupta

Louise Delaney - Specialist Administrative Support

Administrative support team:

Sarah Fisher
Karen Miles
Alison Smallcombe
Evelyn Fudge
Yuko Pacey

8A Ward Sister

Kate Mann 

Clinical Matron

Lisa Haines

The department works closely with the Endoscopy department, gastrointestinal surgery, gastrointestinal physiology and gastrointestinal radiology to offer the following services:

Endoscopy

• Gastroscopy
• Colonoscopy
• Double balloon enteroscopy
• Wireless capsule endoscopy
• ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography)
• EUS (Endoscopic Ultrasound)

Radiology

• Liver biopsy
• Fibroscan
• SEHCAT scan

Gastrointestinal physiology

• Breath testing for small bowel bacterial overgrowth, lactose and fructose intolerance
• High resolution oesophageal manometry and 24 hour pH testing
• Anorectal manometry and biofeedback

Inpatient services

If you attend hospital and are diagnosed with a gastrointestinal or liver condition, you may be required to stay in ward 8A, which is where our specialist unit is located, in the Brunel Building, Green Tower, level 4.

The ward is supported by a consultant and a team consisting of 2-3 doctors, a registrar and a physician associate.

The Nursing team is led by Sister Kate Mann.

Visiting Times 11:00-19:00. Any other times outside these hours at the Ward Managers discretion.

Ward Telephone Numbers: 0117 4142155 and 0117 4142156.

Gastroenterology

You may be invited to attend the department:

• After consulting with your GP who thinks you need to see a gastroenterologist or
• After consulting with another team in a hospital who thinks you need further assessment by a gastroenterologist or
• After you have left hospital having been diagnosed with a gastrointestinal condition

There are consultant led gastroenterology clinics every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Some of the conditions we investigate for and treat are obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, malabsorption, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), chronic diarrhoea and coeliac disease which has not responded to a gluten free diet.

There are additional IBD specialist nurse clinics on Monday, Tuesday (in Cossham Hospital, Kingswood) and Friday.

Patients known to have a form of IBD under the care of our service can contact the IBD nurse specialist for advice via ibdnurses@nbt.nhs.uk. For further patient information regarding IBD please follow the below link.

Crohn's & Colitis UK (crohnsandcolitis.org.uk)

There are specialist dietitian clinics each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to which you may be referred by your consultant, specialist nurse or general practitioner.

North Bristol Liver Unit

You may be invited to attend the unit:

• After consulting with your GP who thinks you need to see a liver specialist or
• After consulting with another team in a hospital who thinks you need further assessment by a liver specialist or
• After you have left hospital having been diagnosed with a liver condition

There is a hepatology clinic every Thursday with Dr Przemioslo, Dr Zeino, Dr. Srivastava and Dr Maurice. We have liver specialist nurses, alcohol specialists, liver dietitian and fibroscan technician also assessing patients as part of the clinic.

We have close links with the liver transplant team in Kings College Hospital, London. There is a three monthly joint liver transplant clinic at Southmead Hospital which is attended by transplant consultants from Kings College Hospital.

There are additional liver specialist nurse clinics on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for those patients who have viral hepatitis and cirrhosis. Patients known to the liver unit can contact the liver nurse specialist for advice via livernurses@nbt.nhs.uk.

There is a clinic on Monday for those patients who are suspected of having liver disease related to alcohol misuse to which you may be referred by your consultant, specialist nurse or general practitioner. This is run by the alcohol specialist team and may include having a fibroscan.

To investigate the liver, a number of imaging tests may be requested for you.

For further information regarding liver disease and cirrhosis, please click on the link below:

British Liver Trust - Pioneering Liver Health

Medical Day Unit

You may be asked to attend this unit, by your consultant, specialist nurse or general practitioner for blood transfusions, iron infusions, paracentesis (drain for ascites build up in the abdomen due to liver disease) or for intravenous medications to treat IBD.

You contact the unit directly on 01174143200 once you have been referred.

Who do I contact if I have not heard about my appointment?

Please contact the outpatient booking team in the first instance:

0300 555 0103 or email OutpatientsContactCentre@nbt.nhs.uk

For general enquiries email reconstructiveprosthetics@nbt.nhs.uk

Senior Reconstructive Scientist
Amy Davey MSc
Email: Amy.davey@nbt.nhs.uk

Reconstructive Scientist
Olivia De Rolland MSc
Email: olivia.derolland@nbt.nhs.uk

Facial prosthetics
Prostheses are fabricated specifically for each person to replace facial features with artificial replicas, such as eyes, ears, noses, parts of the mouth and cheek. A prosthesis is an artificial body part made from a rubber silicone and/or acrylic material. They are coloured to best match the skin tone and blend in with the surrounding area.
Prostheses may be attached in a number of ways depending on each person’s health and needs, including via medical adhesives, head-bands, spectacles or implants.

Body prosthetics
Body prostheses are fabricated with aim to restore contour of the body shape, such as following chest, calf, buttock, thigh, nipple and breast tissue loss. These prostheses sit externally between the skin and clothing.

Burns splints and scar management devices
Splints are fabricated to aid the healing process after burns to help prevent contraction. Similarly, scar splints are fabricated and continually adjusted to aid reducing scar contraction.

Surgical support
Custom splints and stents are fabricated to support a variety of surgical procedures, such as nasal stents to keep the nostril aperture open during healing.

Cranial plates
Custom titanium, acrylic and silicone implants are designed and fabricated to replace bone lost in the skull to restore protection and contour. The implant is the provided to the surgeon for implantation.

Gold eyelid weight assessment and fabrication
A tantalum weight is applied externally to your upper eyelid to assess the appropriate weight required for lid closure. A gold eyelid weight is then manufactured and provided to the surgeon for implantation.

Surgical planning
State of the art 3D technology is used to plan complex reconstructive surgery and design custom implants and surgical guides for additive manufacture (3D printing) in titanium. These guides and implants are used in surgery to aid the surgeon with intricate and complex reconstruction.

Plagiocephaly, brachycephaly and cranial splints
Bespoke splints are fabricated and fitted for suitable paediatric patients referred to us by specialist consultants. Clear helmets are used to help improve aesthetics of paediatric patients with misshapen heads. Helmets may also be used for post-surgical applications.

Reconstructive Prosthetics at Southmead Hospital are an accredited training unit for the Scientific Training Programme (Reconstructive Science) as part of the South West Consortium, in conjunction with Gloucester Royal Hospital, Poole Hospital and Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.