Consultant neurologist

Colette Griffin
Consultant Neurologist (specialist interest in Neurorehabilitation), joined the Trust in 2008

What is your role?

I have a busy General Neurology practice at St George’s Hospital. I am responsible for the development of services within the Trust for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This has involved the institution of a trust-wide weekly multidisciplinary head injury ward round.

At the Wolfson Neurorehabiliation Centre, which is part of St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we are developing TBI pathways and developing our Trust rehabilitation services. This will involve the seamless transfer of Trauma patients with head injuries from St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust through their rehabilitation at the Wolfson, and then ultimately home to their families. We have a hugely successful Vocational Rehabilitation service at the Wolfson, which enables us to help people successfully return to the workplace.

What does a typical working day look like?

Within Neurology, our working days are very varied. I am responsible for General Neurology clinics, and I have General Neurology inpatients at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Neurorehabilitation inpatients at the Wolfson. I am actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and I am currently developing the integration of Neurorehabilitation teaching into the new undergraduate curriculum.

I regularly review Neurology ward referrals and also conduct multidisciplinary ward rounds reviewing all TBI patients each week. A large part of my job consists of development of Neurorehabilitation and TBI services. I am able to work closely with the Trauma Directorate, and the development of TBI services is integral to the Trust’s bid to become a Major Trauma Centre.

I am also closely involved in the further development of the Intrathecal Baclofen Service. This is a service that is a central strategy in the management of patients with severe spasticity. It involves the use of an intrathecal pump to deliver Baclofen (a skeletal muscle relaxant).

St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a Regional Centre for this highly specialised service, and it is a service that is greatly appreciated by patients and carers alike.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I am very lucky to work within excellent multidisciplinary teams on both sites. It is a very exciting time within the Trust for both TBI and Neurorehabilitation services in view of our development as a Major Trauma Centre. The Head Injury and Neurorehabilitation services are integral to this.

What level of patient contact do you have in your role?

I have a very high level of patient contact, reviewing inpatients and outpatients on a daily basis.

What other members of the healthcare team do you work with?

On both sites I work within multidisciplinary teams consist of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, clinical nurse specialists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and neuropsychiatrists in addition to junior doctors.

What do you like about working for the Trust?

I greatly enjoy the team working element of my job, and every member of the multidisciplinary team is committed to first class patient care and the further development of both Neurology and Neurorehabilitation services.

Why did you join the NHS?

Having a profoundly disabled brother, I have always appreciated the huge impact that healthcare professionals can have on their patients and their families.

Professionalism and simple acts of kindness and can truly transform people’s lives.