Neurosurgery
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The St George’s Hospital neurosurgery department provides a comprehensive service for the diagnosis and treatment of disorders affecting the brain, skull, spine and nervous system. The department provides both planned and emergency services for a large variety of general neurosurgical conditions.
Our sub-specialities include:
- Neuro-oncology (brain tumours)
- Simple spinal surgery
- Complex spinal surgery
- Vascular neurosurgery
- Paediatric neurosurgery
- Metastatic spinal cord compression
- Trigeminal neuralgia and facial spasm
- Functional Neurosurgery
- Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
As a national centre of excellence and the heart of the South West London and Surrey Neurology Network, the department treats patients with the most complex conditions from across the country.
Services are provided in the state-of-the-art Atkinson Morley Wing. Complex interdisciplinary procedures are often performed in conjunction with consultants from other specialties, including ENT, maxillofacial, plastic and cardiovascular surgery.
With St George’s Hospital sharing a site with St George’s University of London and links to a number of other universities and research bodies, patients benefit from a specialist multidisciplinary approach to research and education that keeps the department at the forefront for clinical research. This means that St George’s patients get the most innovative treatments as they are developed.
Bringing forms of identification to your first appointment
From Monday 14 August 2017, we are asking all new patients attending non-urgent Neurology and Neurosurgery appointments to bring two forms of identification (one to prove identity, and one to prove residential address) to their first appointment.
This is a new process so we can assess whether patients are eligible for free NHS treatment, in line with national Department of Health regulations. Details of documents that can be used for this are in the leaflet below. One document is required to prove your identity, and one document to prove your residential address.
If you are not eligible for free NHS treatment, you will be charged for any treatment given to you by any member of staff in any of our services, in hospital or in the community. Our overseas patients team will provide more information if you are not sure whether you are entitled to free hospital treatment, and will discuss payment terms with you if applicable.
No patient visiting St George’s will have urgent care delayed
Contact details
If you are already a St George’s patient, you can contact your ward at any time if there is anything you are concerned about.
- Brodie ward: 020 8725 4646/4647
- McKissock ward: 020 8725 4644/4645
Other useful contact numbers:
- Neurosurgical Bed Manager: 020 8672 1255 Bleep 7251.
Treatments
- Posterior fossa surgery
- Endoscopic transphenoidal surgery
- CSF diversion (Ventricular shunting and Endoscopic ventriculostomy)
- Craniotomy
- Neuro-oncology (brain tumours)
- Simple spinal surgery
- Complex spinal surgery
- Malignant spinal cord compression (MSCC) pathway
- Skull base surgery e.g. acoustic neuroma and microvascular decompressions
- Trauma including brain and spinal injuries
- Vascular neurosurgery
- Paediatric neurosurgery
- General neurosurgery
- Epilepsy surgery
- Movement disorders surgery (deep brain stimulation & lesions)
- Chronic pain and cancer pain surgery (neuromodulation & lesions)
Key staff
The neurosurgery department is lead by consultant neurosurgeons supported by a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses and therapists. The team is made up of:
- Consultant neurosurgeons
- Nurses
- Anaesthetists
- Pharmacists
- Dietitians
- Physiotherapists
- Speech and language therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Discharge coordinators
Referrals
Elective referrals can be made by letter or the e-Referrals Service. The address for non-urgent referrals is:
Department of Neurosurgery
Atkinson Morley Wing
St George’s Hospital
Blackshaw Road
London SW17 0QT
Fax – 020 8725 4452
Emergency referrals
Neurosurgical On-Call Referrals
All emergency neurosurgery referrals to St George’s Hospital are to be made electronically via a secure on-line web system www.referapatient.org
Please access this webpage and select the ‘make a referral’ button and fill out the necessary information and clinical details. Once submitted, the on-call neurosurgery doctor will be informed of the referral by text and will review and respond at the earliest opportunity. The response will be received as a pdf letter which will be emailed to the (secure) address provided by the referrer.
If you have trouble opening the PDF document click here for troubleshooting advice.
If you wish to speak to a doctor whilst completing a referral, please contact St George’s Hospital switchboard on 020 8672 1255 and ask for the ‘On Call Neurosurgery Registrar’ or access their bleep (7242) via the automated bleep desk. They may be unable to answer immediately if they are taking another call so please wait for a reply.
It is our experience that the transfer of scans for review can take some time. We therefore recommend contacting PACS transfer teams or radiographers depending on local policy to send any relevant imaging at the earliest opportunity via the Image Exchange Portal (IEP). If your case is urgent then please specify that these scans should be transferred as a ‘Blue Light Transfer‘.
Brain Tumour Referrals
Patients with a suspected brain tumour must be referred to the on call neurosurgery service as described above. In addition, it is essential that a neuro-oncology MDT referral form is completed for each patient, which is available online here.
This needs to then be emailed to neuro-oncologyMDT@stgeorges.nhs.uk
Please ensure all relevant imaging is sent via Image Exchange Portal (IEP).
The neuro-oncology MDT is on Friday mornings and the outcome of each referred patient will be emailed to the address on the MDT form by 5pm on the Friday.
Please send all relevant imaging via the IEP and the referral form by 12:00hrs on Thursday. The images and information need to be reviewed by a Consultant Radiologist before the Neuro-oncology MDT which starts at 08:00hrs on Friday mornings. It may not be possible to provide management/ advice if a referral form and imaging are unavailable at the time of the meeting.
The MDT coordinator is available during office hours on 02087253819 or alternatively 07831165455.
Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression (MSCC)
St George’s Hospital provides a 24 hour advisory service and surgical management for the patients with MSCC. We serve South West London (part of the London Cancer Alliance (LCA)) and the Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire Cancer Network (SWSHCN).
MSCC is defined as spinal cord or cauda equina compression by direct pressure and/or induction of vertebral collapse or instability by metastatic spread or direct extension of malignancy that threatens or causes neurological disability.
The 24 hour contact number for the Lead MSCC Co-ordinator at St George’s Hospital is 020 8672 1255 and Bleep 6027
Referring clinicians/local MSCC Co-ordinators will be signposted by the Lead MSCC Co-ordinator/On-call Neurosurgical Registrar to access the South West London MSCC Service Referral Form. This is available here.
This form must be completed electronically and returned to the South West London MSCC Service. The fully completed form should then be e-mailed to stgh-tr.mscc@nhs.net
In the event of server/system disruption or failure, this form should be printed off, completed manually and faxed back to 020 8725 4613.
A copy of the form should also be sent to the Cancer Centre at the same time to provide patient details to allow the Clinical Oncologist to initiate emergency radiotherapy if/once surgery has been excluded.
- Royal Marsden Hospital
Email rmh-tr.MSCC@nhs.net
Fax 020 7811 8436
- Royal Surrey County Hospital
rsc-tr.MSCC@nhs.net
Fax 01483 464 876
Please contact the Lead MSCC coordinator and the Clinical Oncologist (or AOS administrator at the local trust) to confirm how the form has been sent (i.e. fax or e-mail)
Mortality data
Consultant outcome publication (COP) is an NHS England initiative to increase transparency within the NHS and to provide the public with information on surgical outcomes. The Neurosurgical National Audit Programme (NNAP) has been mandated by NHS England to publish activity and mortality data for all neurosurgery units and consultant neurosurgeons practising in England.
The newly published mortality data shows that the St George’s Hospital neurosurgery unit has a lower than expected mortality rate. You can read the NNAP report on St George’s and compare our performance with other neurosurgery units on the Neurosurgical National Audit Programme website.
Consultant Outcome Publication 2019
Read the mortality data and outcome report for each of our consultant neurosurgeons: