General Information

Background

The department deals with all conditions effecting the ear, nose, throat and neck and thyroid gland.  In the ear this includes problems with hearing, balance (including dizziness), tinnitus (noises in the ear) and ear infections.  Problems in the nose include rhinitis and sinus disease, injury to the nose, nasal allergies and (rarely) tumours. In the throat patients may present with a hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing and snoring. Neck and thyroid lumps are usually seen in a dedicated rapid access neck lump clinic. Although many patients do not require surgery consultant Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons do carry out a wide variety of operations on all age groups.

The Yorkshire Cochlear implant service is an internationally recognised regional facility, which provides assessments and treatment of profoundly deaf children and adults.

The department is based at Bradford Royal Infirmary within the ENT and ophthalmology (eyes) unit. The unit is made up of an outpatient department, day case unit and inpatients are treated through ward 18. The ENT unit provides a consultant-led service for patients in Bradford, Airedale and surrounding areas (including Calderdale, Leeds and north Yorkshire).

The unit is currently meeting all local and national targets for waiting times and is 100 per cent compliant with cancer waiting time targets.

The department has actively supported the development of the GPs with special interests service in Bradford and Airedale with six of these supported by specialised outreach clinics. Clinics with GPSIs take place at Westwood Park and Eccleshill.

‘Outreach sessions’ are carried out at Airedale and Dewsbury (St Johns and Wellington House).

Aims of ENT Department at Bradford Royal Infirmary

• To provide a service covering all aspects of Ear Nose and Throat surgery
• To provide a comprehensive service to liaise closely with related specialties – in particular audiology  and speech and language therapy
• To provide a more specialised service accepting ‘tertiary’ referrals in:
• Head and neck malignancy
• Thyroid surgery
• Complex sinus and nasal disease (including endoscopic sinus surgery)
• Structural and functional nose problems (including septorhinoplasty)
• Paediatric (children’s) ENT surgery
• Voice disorders
• Bone anchored and middle ear implants
• Snoring and sleep disorders
• To provide a regional and national cochlear Implant service assessing and treating profoundly deaf children and adults.
• To support nursing development including nurse-led initiatives
• To provide excellent postgraduate training for ENT surgical trainees, which in the future will include specialist fellowships for CST (Completion of Specialist Training) holders.
• To run regional and national educational courses in all aspects of ENT surgery.
• To be actively involved in research and clinical governance.

Service Provision

Referrals to the service are from GPs, other hospital departments, from ENT departments at other hospitals and from nurse practitioners.

General ENT clinics take referrals in all aspects of Ear Nose and Throat disorders and are supported by audiology.

More specialised clinics include:

• A daily rapid access ENT casualty clinic
• A rapid access neck and thyroid lump clinic
• Multidisciplinary clinic for proven head and neck malignancies
• Cochlear implant clinics (multidisciplinary)
• Voice disorder clinic (with speech therapy support)
• Sleep disorder clinic (with anaesthetic and orthodontic support)
• Immunotherapy clinic (nurse led)
• Nurse led mastoid and dressing clinic
• Paediatric (children’s) clinics

Staffing

The department has seven consultants, four specialist registrars, three doctors/ associate specialists and six senior house officers

Supporting Clinical Staff

Support staff include nursing staff, audiologists, speech and language therapists, teachers of the deaf, clinical scientists, the cochlear implant team, medical secretaries, patient administration staff.

Teaching and Training and Research

The department is committed to a high standard of postgraduate teaching and continuing professional education in ENT surgery.

The department runs the following nationally recognised courses:

• The Bradford temporal bone course
• National clinical update for GPs with special interests in ENT
• FRCS VIVA course for specialist registrars
• Yorkshire regional ENT meetings

The department runs an educational meeting twice a year covering all aspects of ENT surgery for both consultants and trainees in the Yorkshire region and north England

The Yorkshire cochlear implant service runs regular educational courses for all healthcare workers dealing with profoundly deaf individuals.

We are the only ENT unit in the country with nurse development unit status.

Clinical Audit and Clinical Governance

All clinical staff actively participate in ENT clinical audit and research, locally, regionally and nationally. Clinical governance meetings are held monthly in the department. Emphasis is given to clinical effectiveness and improving patient satisfaction. Regular meetings are held to improve communication, patient care and to circulate the results of audit.

Access to Service

The service is accessed by written referral through the agreed routes i.e. choose and book, fast track. The urgent referral clinic can be accessed by telephone to the senior house officer on call via the hospital switchboard on 01274 542200 and the patient should arrive with written details of the referral.

Further Information

Our Staff

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