HOME PAGE

OVERVIEW

Frenchay Hospital is an internationally recognised centre of excellence.

The North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 2,500 staff and provides treatment for 600,000 patients a year. Its regional services including trauma, orthopaedics, neurosurgery, burns and plastic surgery, are provided to patients throughout Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Bath and further afield.

DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSURGERY

The Department of Neurosurgery forms part of the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Bristol, and has an active programme in clinical and molecular research. The department serves a large part of the South West peninsula of England and part of South Wales with a catchment population is 2.8 million. Patients are also received from other parts of the United Kingdom and internationally.

The Department of Neurosurgery has a national and international reputation, being at the forefront of technical advances. In the early 1970's, Neuroendoscopy was pioneered by Mr Huw B Griffith who designed the first rigid neuro-endoscope. This technique has been commonplace in the Department since then. The World's fifth CT scanner was introduced in the Neuroradiology Department at Frenchay in 1974. The first interactive computerised Neuro-Navigation system ("frameless stereotaxy" or "Image-Guided Neuro-Navigation") in the world (outside North America)was introduced here in 1991 when the Department became a teaching centre for this technique. The department is also credited with the world's first artificial cervical joint developed by Mr Brian Cummins in the 1990s. The joint has undergone further modification to its current version, the Prestige II Cervical Arthroplasty joint.

The Department has a strong reputation for providing high standards of surgical, paramedical and nursing care to patients. Approximately 2,600 neurosurgical procedures are performed each year and cover all aspects of Neurosurgical practice including:

• Brain & Spinal Tumours
• Cranial & Spinal Trauma
• Skull Base surgery
• Cerebro-vascular surgery
• Pituitary Surgery
• Epilepsy Surgery
• Spinal surgery
• Trigeminal Neuralgia
• Neuromodulation for Spinal pain
• Paediatric Neurosurgery
• Functional Surgery
• Neuro-endoscopy
• Computerised Image-guided Neurosurgery
• Stereotactic Radiosurgery

CONSULTANT NEUROSURGEONS

The department of neurosurgery at Frenchay hospital is staffed by 11 consultants with varying and internationally renowned specialist interests. They provide investigations and surgical management for a wide range of complex pathology of the brain and spine including the use of computerised image-guidance microsurgery and minimally-invasive techniques.

The Neurosurgeons interact closely with related neuroscience specialists in the departments of Neurology, Neuro-radiology, Neuropathology, Neurophysiology, Neuro-anaesthetics, and Neuro-oncology to deliver a multidisciplinary service to neurosurgical patients.

There are also collaborative links with related surgical specialities including neuro-otology, neuro-opthamology,oro-maxillo-facial surgery, and cranio-facial plastic surgery. These interactions between multi-disciplinary groups provide a broad based educational and clinical experience for consultants and trainees from all disciplines at the Institute of Neurosciences at Frenchay.