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WHAT IS THE UROLOGY CLINICAL ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT SERVICE?

This is a service for patients in St Albans and Harpenden. It is based at The Elms Medical Practice, 5 Stewart Road, Harpenden, AL5 4QA.

The service assesses and treats patients with urinary and other urological problems. Your GP will refer you to this service when you require a specialist opinion, test or treatment.

A team of professionals led by a Consultant in Urology and GPs with a special interest in Urology, supported by nurses, provide this service. The aim
is to ensure that you will be seen by the right person in the right place first time for management of your problem.

WHAT SERVICES DO WE OFFER?

After referral by your doctor, an initial assessment of the referral will ensure the most appropriate care, including:

• Further advice to your GP with ideas of different treatments
• Referral to secondary care if appropriate
• An appointment in a specialist clinic
• Assessment in a clinic with a Consultant or GP with a special interest in Urology

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Your GP will contact the assessment service directly and your referral letter will be looked at by the consultant very quickly. We will then contact you with the details of your appointment.

Or, if the consultant feels that you need to be seen in secondary care you will be contacted and offered a choice of where you would like to be seen and by
whom.

CLINICS

Clinics are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Patients will be seen at:

The Elms Medical Practice,
5 Stewart Road
Harpenden AL5 4QA

MAKING YOUR APPOINTMENT

If it is decided that you can be seen in the clinic you will be sent an appointment. If you cannot keep your appointment please contact the booking service on:

01582 716673 10am-5pm Monday to Friday

• Please arrive promptly for your appointment
• On arrival report to reception and you will be seen as soon as possible.

If you fail to attend your appointment without letting us know beforehand, you will be discharged and your GP will be notified. You will not automatically be offered a new appointment, but within four weeks if you still need an appointment you can
request your GP practice to arrange this for you.

INTERPRETER SERVICES

If your understanding of English is limited we can arrange for an interpreter to be present. Please notify us within 48 hours of your appointment if you require this service, specifying which language you require.

OBJECTIVES

• Develop and improve patient care pathways
• Provide alternatives to hospital based specialist treatment
• Provide timely assessment of patients
• Reduce the secondary care waiting lists
• Help manage patients in primary care through specialist advice and feedback
• Ensure excellent communication with referring doctor, patient and the CATS.

THE TEAM

Mr Jim Adshead, Consultant
MA, MD, FRCS(Eng), FRCS(Urol)

Mr Asher Alam, Consultant
MBBS, FRCS, FRCS(Urol)

Mr Manoah Pancharatnam, Consultant
MBBS FRCS

Dr Julian Smith, GPSI (Clinical Lead)
MBBS MRCGP

Dr Dylan Phillips, GPSI
MBBS BSc DRCOG DFFP

Clare Mealey, Nurse

Jo Adams, Practice Manager
Ann Reed & Fran Woodcock, CATS Administrators

The team includes Urology Consultants from West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, The Luton & Dunstable Hospital Foundation NHS Trust, and East & North Hertfordshire NHS Trust (the Lister and QE2 Hospitals) working with local GPs.

PRESCRIPTION REQUESTS

The CATS team will be able to issue prescriptions for short courses of treatment (up to 7 days).

It may be necessary for a patient to have a longer course of treatment following their Urology CATS appointment. In these cases, a prescription request together with a clinical discharge summary will be sent to the referring GP indicating the
diagnosis and reason for the request. These prescriptions are not urgent, but ideally should be issued within 72 working hours.

HOW TO GET THERE

Harpenden Station trains from St Albans
Buses 321,521,45, 365,366,202,636
Bus Stop outside The George Public House
The High Street, Harpenden

COMMENTS

Please send comments to:

Urology CATS Admin
The Elms Medical Practice
5 Stewart Road
Harpenden
AL5 4QA
Tel: 01582 716673 10am-5pm Monday to Friday
and ask for the CATS Administrator

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SERVICE OVERVIEW FOR GPs

Name of Service
Urology CATS

Commissioned by
West Herts PCT/St Albans & Harpenden Practice Based Commissioning

Service provided by
The Elms Medical Practice, Harpenden

This service provides a routine Urology CATS for St Albans and Harpenden. Patients will be triaged and then seen as appropriate by the Urology CATS team. If a subsequent secondary care referral is required, this will be arranged utilising Choose and Book. We do not accept referrals for suspected cancer; these referrals should be directed to secondary care as usual.


PROCEDURES & TREATMENTS

We have a range of facilities to provide the following:

o Bladder ultrasound

o Flow rates

o Dedicated one stop renal tract and scrotal ultrasound scanning (starting September 2008)

o Liaison with Gynaecology CATS

Clinical areas covered include prostatism (LUTS), unstable bladders, cysts, lumps and penile disorders.

CLINICS

Patients will be seen at The Elms Medical Practice, Harpenden on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Joint Consultant and GPSI clinics are held for new patients, follow ups and triage.

HOW TO REFER

Referrals by letter are accepted from GPs. No suspected cancer (2 week wait) referrals.

o Post Urology CATS
The Elms Medical Practice
5 Stewart Road
Harpenden
AL5 4QA

o Email urologycats@nhs.net

o Fax 01582 416673

In your referral letter please include the following patient details:

o Address, date of birth, NHS number

o Daytime & evening contact numbers

o Relevant past medical history

o Current medication

o Allergies

THE TEAM

Mr Jim Adshead, Consultant
MA, MD, FRCS(Eng), FRCS(Urol)

Mr Asher Alam, Consultant
MBBS, FRCS, FRCS(Urol)

Mr Manoah Pancharatnam, Consultant
MBBS FRCS

Dr Julian Smith, GPSI (Clinical Lead)
MBBS MRCGP

Dr Dylan Phillips, GPSI
MBBS BSc DRCOG DFFP

Clare Mealey, Nurse

Jo Adams, Practice Manager
Ann Reed & Fran Woodcock, CATS Administrators

The team includes Urology Consultants from West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, The Luton & Dunstable Hospital Foundation NHS Trust, and East & North Hertfordshire NHS Trust (the Lister and QE2 Hospitals) working with local GPs.

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