News

New specialist major arterial centre at Southmead Hospital

A new specialist arterial centre, providing state of the art planned and emergency inpatient care has opened at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

The centre will specialise in the management of vascular diseases, and disorders of the arteries, veins and lymphatic system. If left unchecked, vascular disease can lead to blockages of arteries and veins or weakening of walls resulting in the formation of aneurysms. These diseases can be managed by medical therapy, supervised exercise programmes, radiological procedures and surgical reconstruction.

Patients with vascular disorders will be cared for by dedicated specialist vascular teams at the centre with a consultant led vascular service providing 24/7 vascular surgery.

Approximately 1.3 million people in the South West will benefit from the new service.

Benefits to patient include:

  • Round the clock access to vascular services with a dedicated vascular ward staffed by a specialist team.
  • A hybrid operating theatre – equipped with the latest radiology equipment to allow less invasive procedures to be performed safely.
  • A dedicated 39 bed vascular ward.
  • Patients better able to manage their condition and recovery and have a shorter stay because of the development of skills and expertise between clinicians

Steve Sylvester, Head of Specialised Commissioning, NHS England (Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire) said: “To deliver a 24/7 service, clinicians, local patients, acute providers, CCGs and local authority colleagues have worked closely with us to design a care pathway where local dedicated vascular teams can now work together from this specialist centre in line with international best practice.”

“I am very impressed by the level of commitment shown by all our partners in achieving our goal of a world class arterial centre for people in the area”

Mr Marcus Brooks, Consultant Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon, said: “The changes being made to local vascular services are going to bring great benefits for patients.”

“For the first time all patients in the area will have access to a team of experts under one roof. Bringing everyone together has meant we can update and improve the service.”

“We believe that the new major arterial centre at Southmead Hospital Bristol will produce better outcomes for vascular surgery patients.”

The majority of care will be delivered as close to people’s homes as possible. Services like outpatients, day surgery, investigations including vascular studies, CT, MRI and interventional radiology and rehabilitation for patients with vascular disease will be delivered from a network of hospitals including Royal United Hospital Bath, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Cossham Community Hospital, South Bristol Community Hospital, Weston General Hospital, and Melksham Community Hospital for Wiltshire patients.