RESPIRATORY MEDICINE

The Departments of Respiratory Medicine at Ipswich Hospital and Colchester Hospital work to diagnose and treat a wide range of lung conditions including cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive lung disease, asthma, interstitial lung disease, lung cancer and sleeping disorders.

Colchester Hospital

The respiratory medicine team is made up of 7 consultants, 2 higher specialty trainees, 3 internal medicine trainees and 4 foundation doctors. There are also 2 trust grade doctors, 1 physician associate and 3 respiratory nurses.

The department has one medical ward with 35 beds. The acute respiratory care unit (ARCU) is located here. A typical day on the ward starts with a multi-disciplinary board round, followed by ward rounds. Areas of specialist interest within the department include experience with non-invasive ventilation (NIV) on ARCU and exposure to pleural procedures (ultrasound, pleural taps and chest drains).

Ipswich Hospital

The respiratory medicine team compromises of 5 full time consultants and 2 higher specialist trainees with national training numbers. Alongside this there are 3 internal medical trainees, 1 general practice trainee, 2 foundation year trainees, and 1 trust grade doctor. There is also an advanced clinical practitioner.

The department comprises of a 25 bedded medical ward with respiratory expertise and a separate respiratory high dependency unit. This high dependency unit has 8 dedicated side rooms with frequent air changes, equipped with monitors to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) standard. Each of the rooms has the capacity to provide CPAP or NIV and there are also 8 Optiflow devices. The unit is staffed to HDU levels, and the highly qualified respiratory nurses initiate noninvasive ventilation, CPAP, Opitflow as well as care for patients with tracheostomy tubes.

Ipswich Hospital GMC Survey Feedback 2022

The department is a positive outlier for clinical supervision (98%) and educational governance (78%). As well as achieving positive feedback in other areas: overall satisfaction (85%), supportive environment (80%).

Training Opportunities

Trainees are encouraged to attend outpatient clinics. These are in the chest clinic which provides immediate access to lung function, chest radiography and cardiology. There is also a well-established sleep and home NIV service, and a specialist asthma and interstitial lung disease clinic. In addition, at Colchester, there is a a training clinic covering acute respiratory outpatient presentations called the ‘HOT’ clinic which provides excellent training opportunities for IMT and SpR trainees.

Bronchoscopy is another training opportunity. Lists are carried out twice a week with both video and fibreoptic bronchoscopes. The Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) service has been running since 2012. Linear EBUS is currently used and there is the hope to expand the physician led cancer diagnostics with the introduction of ultrasound guided biopsy, radial EBUS and medical thoracoscopy.

There is a weekly clinic for the outpatient management of pleural effusions. Trainees can attend these for teaching and to develop procedural skills which is a core part of the IMT and higher speciality curriculum.

Trainees are encouraged to participate in MDT meetings. There is a weekly MDT lung cancer/general radiology meeting with a thoracic surgeon, oncologist, pathologist, radiologist and lung cancer specialist nurses. Thoracic Surgery is provided elsewhere, however at Ipswich, there are thoracic surgery outpatient clinics for both new and follow up patients

Colchester Hospital

“A very friendly and supportive department where you will learn a lot about general and respiratory medicine. We receive excellent feedback from trainees, and several have returned as registrars and consultants. The department has a great reputation for publishing case reports, audits, QIP projects and research studies. There are currently 2 research studies on going.“