A new weekly pleural clinic has been set up at Walsall Manor Hospital to offer a wide range of timely diagnostic tests and treatment for patients.
The pleura is the covering of the lungs and chest wall and many different diseases can affect this part of the chest.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s new clinic will be held once a week on Tuesday mornings at the hospital’s outpatient department on route 004
The service is run by Respiratory Consultant Dr Kutaeba Ibrahim, Respiratory Consultant Dr Nadia Sayeed and specialist nursing support.
Dr Kutaeba Ibrahim said:
“Pleural service reduces unnecessary hospital admission without compromising patient’s safety. It improves patients experience and outcome.
“Pleural clinic set-up will allow full assessment in a ‘one-stop’ approach with dedicated time and space for provision of common pleural procedures including thoracic ultrasound and/or aspirations. The pleural disease clinic also will present a controlled environment for trainees to acquire skills in thoracic ultrasound and pleural procedures.
“For inpatient care in Walsall it is anticipated that early involvement of a specialist pleural team in the management of inpatients with pleural diseases is likely to improve the patient journey. An expert pleural opinion can facilitate early discharge by providing a prompt and definitive diagnostic or treatment plan.”
The trust’s pleural team provides a wide range of diagnostic tests and treatments for pleural disease.
It conducts a full range of pleural procedures including:
- Thoracic ultrasound
- Diagnostic pleural aspirate
- Therapeutic pleural aspirate
- Intercostal drain insertion using guide-wire
- Indwelling pleural catheter insertion, management and removal
- Surgical Pleural Biopsy and Pleurectomy (via the Thoracic Surgical Service)
It also provides specialist assessment for patients with pleural disease, including:
- pneumothorax
- pleural infection
- cancer-related pleural effusion
- mesothelioma
- other pleural conditions
There are excellent links between the Pleural Service and University Hospital Birmingham thoracic team.
The team aim to conduct the majority of investigations as day case or outpatient procedures, and then review one to two weeks later when the results are available. They aim to see breathless patients for assessment within two weeks of referral but sooner for urgent cases.
Referrals are accepted from all medical and surgical specialties, Ambulatory Care Unit, Accident and Emergency as well as from GPs and community palliative teams.