Trust opens new unit offering swifter treatment for patients with severe intestinal failure

Patients with severe intestinal failure (SIF) will benefit from swifter treatment following the opening of a new specialist ambulatory unit by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust.

The unit at University Hospital, Coventry, is the first of its kind at the Trust. It is staffed by a group of dedicated Gastroenterology ACPs (Advanced Clinical Practitioners) who can undertake assessment and treatment of patients with input from the wider nutrition team, including Consultant Gastroenterologists, Dietitians, and Nutrition Nurses.

The provision of the unit on Ward 32 (Gastroenterology) enables direct access for prompt specialised assessment and treatment of patients with intestinal failure and complex gastrointestinal illness, with a view to avoiding the need for patients to attend the Emergency Department and hopefully avoid unnecessary admission to hospital.

The new service has been described as a “brilliant advancement” by 75-year-old patient Mrs Sylvia Wyer who officially opened the new unit with Jonathan Young, Chief Medical Officer at UHCW NHS Trust.

Sylvia has been receiving treatment under the nutrition team at the hospital for the past 20 years due to a diagnosis of intestinal failure. This requires her to receive intravenous nutrition (total parenteral nutrition – TPN) via an indwelling central venous catheter to maintain her nutrition and hydration and prevent malnutrition.

TPN patients have complex needs and can become ill very quickly with sepsis, nausea and high temperatures or they may have other issues, for example, with their central line. Previously, if they had a problem, they would have to come to the Emergency Department at University Hospital and then be admitted to a ward.

“Having this new unit is going to be so much better and easier for people with TPN,” said Sylvia. “If I have an issue, I can ring the team and they can bring me to the unit, so it’s a better service for people with parenteral nutrition. It’s a great advancement for the patients and they will benefit from it – it’s brilliant.”

Sylvia has seen SIF services at UHCW NHS Trust develop over the past two decades. In the past, patients had to travel to specialist centres at Salford or St Mark’s Hospital in London for treatment until Chuka Nwokolo, Professor of Gastroenterology, introduced a nutrition service in the 1990s. Sylvia was the first TPN patient from Coventry to be discharged from University Hospital in 2005.

In 2010, the Trust recognised the need for the service to develop further and Dr Nicola Burch, Consultant Gastroenterologist, was appointed to take the service to the next level. Her work enabled UHCW NHS Trust to become accredited as one of two regional severe intestinal treatment centres in the West Midlands, serving a population of 3.4 million people.

Dr Dana Ismail, Lead for Clinical Nutrition and Intestinal Failure, said the opening of the new SIF unit capped years of work to continuously develop and improve the service to meet the complex needs of patients with intestinal failure.

“This unit will deliver excellent service for patients with swift assessment and management by expert staff to bypass the front door and avoid unnecessary admissions,” he added. “It’s about treating the right patient in the right place at the right time.”

Caption:

Sylvia Wyer (left) cuts the ribbon at the opening of the new Severe Intestinal Failure (SIF) ambulatory unit at University Hospital, with Dr Dana Ismail, Lead for Clinical Nutrition and Intestinal Failure (centre) and Jonathan Young, Chief Medical Officer at UHCW NHS Trust