NHS England's Regional Director for London Andrew Ridley visited King George Hospital (KGH) in Ilford on Friday 8 July to hear about the amazing work we’re doing to reduce waiting times for patients and to open a new unit for treating kidney stones.

Pictured above, front row, L-R: Krishna Vemulapalli, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon; Andrew Ridley, NHS England Regional Director for London; Thangadorai Amalesh, Divisional Director of Surgery; and Liam Edwards, Divisional Director of Nursing – Surgery.

The unit has received an ESWL (extra corporeal shockwave lithotripsy) machine which is used in lithotripsy. Kidney stones affect nearly 10 per cent of the population and are on the rise. Lithotripsy is a non-invasive technique to break kidney or ureter stones.

The hope is that we will be able to speed up treatment, reduce re-attendance at our Emergency Departments and tackle waiting lists. The new machine will also reduce the need for invasive surgery.

Junaid Masood, Consultant Urological Surgeon, said: “The service will significantly enhance the patient experience and revolutionise the work we do. For the first time at our Trust, it will be doctor-led and will benefit patients as decisions on further treatments will be taken there and then.

“We hope the arrival of this machine will attract work from other hospitals and enhance the unit’s academic output. We look forward to our patients benefiting from this state-of-the-art service.”

Pictured above, L-R: Kerry Chapman, Speciality Manager; Junaid Masood, Consultant Urological Surgeon explaining how the service will benefit patients; Andrew Ridley, NHS England Regional Director London; Matthew Trainer, Chief Executive; and Shailesh Kulkarni, Speciality Lead for Urology. 

The visit by Andrew Ridley included a tour around the Elective Hub, discussing elective recovery and future plans.

At the end of his visit, Andrew said: “What a fantastic way to finish the week. It’s been really inspirational to hear about all the wonderful work you do here. You have a fantastic environment, really good focus on patient care, great multidisciplinary team (MDT) focus – I can see the interactions across teams and professionals.”

Chief Executive Matthew Trainer commented: “I’m delighted that we were able to welcome Andrew today. He heard from our surgical teams about some of the fantastic initiatives and work we’re doing to get the waiting lists down – ranging from the work we’ve done in orthopaedics, general surgery, endoscopy and ophthalmology.”

Thangadorai Amalesh, Divisional Director of Surgery, added: “It was great to welcome Andrew Ridley today and discuss the care, innovations, plans and vision for planned care at BHRUT and our Elective Hub at KGH.”

Pictured below: Andrew Ridley officially opens the new unit.