Paediatric neurosurgery
On this page:
The Department has three paediatric neurosurgeons, Samantha Hettige, Simon Stapleton and Navneet Singh. They manage a large variety of emergency and elective paediatric neurosurgical problems e.g. brain tumours, hydrocephalus, spinal bifida etc.
There are dedicated neonatal and paediatric intensive care units on site and a paediatric neurosurgery ward.
Key staff
Paediatric neurosurgery is performed by Mr Simon Stapleton, Mr Andrew Martin and Samantha Hettige. They are supported by multidisciplinary teams including specialist paediatric and neo-natal nurses and therapists.
Our paediatric spinal surgery specialists are Jason Bernard, Darren Lui, Timothy Bishop, Samantha Hettige and Simon Stapleton.
Referrals
Elective referrals can be made by 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‘.
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 2014
Read the mortality data and outcome report for each of our consultant neurosurgeons:
