One of the specialist services offered by Newcastle Urology at the Freeman Hospital is a designated clinic for those with recurrent urinary infections. It has been running for over 4 years and involves a Consultant-delivered one-stop service.
On arrival patients are seen by a Urology Nurse Specialist who recaps the history and carries out a clinical examination. In addition, if considered necessary blood and urine tests are taken at that stage.
The patient will then go to the Radiology (x-ray) department and typically undergo an Ultrasound scan of the kidneys as well as a plain x-ray of the abdomen (tummy).
On return to the Urology Suite a telescopic examination of the bladder (cystoscopy) is carried out under local anaesthetic by the Urology Consultant. After this examination the Consultant will review all of the days tests including the scans and x-rays and formulate a treatment plan.
The advantage of this kind of clinic is that all of the tests can be done on the same day and the patients can leave hospital with a plan for further treatment. The clinic is led by Mr Chris Harding who is one of the Urology Consultants with an interest in recurrent urine infections.
We have recently reviewed this clinic in terms of treatment success and overall patient experience. A sample of 200 patients were studied and our results show that the number of urine infections experienced was reduced by at least half in the majority of those who attended this clinic.
In addition, 78% of the patients surveyed felt that they had experienced an improvement in their condition following attendance at the clinic and 98% said they would recommend the clinic to a friend.
This clinic can be accessed via your GP surgery.
