Norfolk interventional radiology centre treats 6,000th patient

Nearly three years after it opened, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s Norfolk Centre for Interventional Radiology (NCIR) team has treated its 6,000th patient.

Michael Atkinson from Norwich visits the centre every 10 weeks to have his nephrostomy changed after having his bladder removed following bladder cancer in 2018. The team has developed a specific patient pathway following his feedback on having to go onto a ward via the emergency department after he caught the tube on a door handle. Currently, if nephrostomy patients inadvertently pull out their catheter they have to go into the emergency department and then same day emergency care, where they wait to be seen.

Atkinson said: “I cannot praise the team highly enough. I actually look forward to it. I know that sounds odd, but I do. They are a super bunch who know what they are doing and do it properly.”

NCIR service lead David Pechey commented: “We have worked closely with our colleagues in the urology team to develop a pathway so that patients like Mr Atkinson can call us directly and we can tell them when we can fit them in. It’s a relatively simple procedure that does not take long, so they can wait at home where they are more comfortable and only come to the hospital when they need to. It’s such a simple thing, but it makes the world of difference to our patients.”

The £7 million centre was opened in September 2020 having received a £220,000 grant from Norfolk and Norwich Hospitals Charity, enabling essential patient monitoring systems to be purchased.

Picture: The NCIR team with patient Michael Atkinson.

Published on page 6 of the September 2023 issue of RAD Magazine.