Russells Hall Hospital –

INTRODUCTION

Dudley is a large town in the county of , , 6 miles (9.7 km) south-east of Wolverhampton and 10.5 miles (16.9 km) north-west of . The town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and in 2011 had a population of 79,379. The Metropolitan Borough, which includes the towns of and Halesowen, had a population of 312,900. Dudley is sometimes called the capital of the Black Country.

Originally a market town, Dudley was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution and grew into an industrial centre in the 19th century with its iron, coal, and limestone industries before their decline and the relocation of its commercial centre to the nearby Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the 1980s. Tourist attractions include Dudley Zoo and Castle, the 12th century priory ruins, and the Black Country Living Museum.

Russells Hall Hospital is an NHS general hospital located in Dudley, West Midlands, England, managed by the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital is situated south-west of the town centre on the A4101 road, which connects to the area of the borough.

Russells Hall Hospital is part of The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust. It is a medium sized hospital providing services to the population of Dudley, Stourbridge and the surrounding towns and villages. Located in the heart of the Black Country area, it covers a population of around 450,000 people in mainly urban areas. The Trust consists of Russells Hall Hospital with two smaller outpatient centres, Corbett and Dudley Guest, which are run as one main unit. The hospital has around 687 beds. It sees around 105,000 inpatients; 500,000 outpatients and almost 100,000 attendances at A&E each year. The area of Dudley is moderately deprived (83rd out of 326 local authorities, where 1 is the most deprived). Life expectancy is worse than that expected within the England average. The Trust gained foundation Trust status in October 2008, and was the first Trust to do so in the area.

THEATRES & WARDS

There are two wards as part of the trauma and orthopaedic (t&o) department B1 and B2. B1 is usually ring fenced elective orthopaedic ward. B2 is the trauma ward consists of 4 stations with two hip suits at the bottom (Station 3&4) where you find most of the NOF cases. There is one station at B3 also belonging to the trauma ward called B2 station 5. There are 3 T&O theatres at Russell Hall Hospital (8, 9 and 10) and one day case theatre at Corbett Hospital. No trauma or joint replacement procedures performed at Corbett Hospital.

Theatre 8 in RHH is a trauma theatre while the other two are elective. During out of hours we share the CPOD theatre which is theatre 4 with other specialties. You have to book any out of hour’s cases online and discuss with anesthetist in advance. You have to have good negotiation skills with the theatre 4 lead coordinator.

Russells Hall Hospital – Dudley

TRAUMA AND ORTHOPAEDIC DEPARTMENT

No of juniors: there should ideally be 2 CTs and rest are either FY1 or 2 equivalents. Middle grades: 2 trainees, 1 associated specialist, 1 arthroplasty fellow and 7 staff grades. Mr. Sajid who is a long serving AS is not part of the rota but he conducts clinics and has his own theatre list. One of the staff grades is a clinical teaching fellow and does not participate in the rota.

Average no of trauma cases per year: You will be assigned certain days or sessions for trauma, however you can always use your spare time to join Senior Registrars in trauma theatres. They are very nice and always happy to supervise you and give you as much trauma as you want. Ideally you will finish most of your trauma numbers in your 1 year placement. You will easily get 350 cases a year in Dudley so enjoy it.

CATERING FACILITIES & PARKING

RHH has a canteen which serves discounted food to staff daily. The canteen is situated near the main entrance of the hospital. They serve specific dishes each day of the week for example curry day is on Thursday and fish and chips on Friday. The food generally is not bad but it is still expensive so best to get your own food if you want to save some pennies. There is a starbucks coffee shop near the canteen too. There is a lovely fresh fruit and vegetable stand outside the hospital, open from 8am to 5pm. I used to get fresh raspberries and strawberries from them, they are worth it. There is a WHSmith shop at the hospital main entrance.

PARKING SERVICES

There is adequate parking available on-site. The main staff parking services is located at the back of the hospital in the multistorey car park. You need apply for a parking permit which is free when you start your placement. There are other parking spaces at the back of the hospital which is free for staff. However if you park at the front you will need to take a ticket and pay for it on exit.

TRAVEL & STUDY EXPENSES

There is an effective travel expenses system expenses through E-expenses. You will need to be registered on this system and ensure that appropriate documents are uploaded (driving license, car insurance etc.) before claiming. You need to ensure that your insurance policy covers business travel. This allows availability to claim the cost of travel to Llandudno hospital.

LIBRARY

There is a library available with a reasonable selection of Orthopaedic books. It has good connection with Birmingham libraries and they can obtain any book on loan from the sister’s libraries for you. You will need to apply for a BASE pass which will give you access to these advantages.

Russells Hall Hospital – Dudley

SOFTWARE

• PACS Radiology software • SORAIN System for requesting pathology/micro samples & checking results • SUNRISE electronic observations & VTE assessments • JAC an archaic system initially designed for ordering medications from pharmacy which has morphed into a discharge letter system

Handover: This happens between registrars/ SHOs at the morning trauma meetings. Evening handover between Registrars / SHOs takes place at the theatre orthopaedic room opposite Theatre 9 at 20:00.

Trauma meetings: These happen in a designated room ( The POD) that is just down the corridor from B2 and B1 section on the east side of the hospital on the 1st floor.

Ward rounds: Usually as a Registrar you are expected to do the ward round on your boss’s patients very frequently. But there are no specific ward round for an Registrar. During pressure times the rota changes sand the management free one Registrar of any clinical duties to do the wards round including outliers with the consultant on call. The outliers SHO should also accompany you to the outlying wards (DSU + paeds or any medical wards).

OPD info / fracture clinic info: Fracture clinic is on the ground floor near A&E and it starts at 09:00 am. The staff are very nice and in charge Nurse is Katrina who is very approachable. You have a Dictaphone to capture your clinic notes and this is docked in clinic or with the secretaries so notes can be typed up from clinic or theatre.

Trauma referral / cases referral process or any other specific issues:

Referrals usually come through the SHO on call. But A&E and external sources can approach you directly on your bleep. Poly trauma usually goes to Birmingham (QE) . Any hand injuries with skin loss can be referred to plastics in QE. Any spinal?? QES need to be assessed at RHH and referred to QE spinal team for advice through the NORSE system.

Departmental teaching/ Meetings and Audits: In the trauma meeting you can be asked some questions but in a very friendly matter. Not all the consultants do ask though. Frequently there are questions for the trainees at the morning trauma meeting (some consultants more than others). Mr. Jain coordinates the journal club on a monthly basis. There is a monthly audit meeting in the educational centre in the west block. Audits need to be approved first by Mr. Claire. Audits need to be applied for using a specific excel sheet form and to be approved by Mr. Claire first before sending it to audit department.

Russells Hall Hospital – Dudley

CONSULTANTS

Mr. Ed Bache Paediatrics Mr. Sohail Butt Upper limb Mr. Tom Clare Lower limb arthroplasty Mr. Ed Davis Lower limb arthroplasty Mr. Qutub Qadri Lower limb arthroplasty / Foot and Ankle Mr. Sohail Quraishi Lower limb arthroplasty ( Usual Trainer but has a fellow now) Mr. Maneesh Sinha Upper Limb ( Great Trainer but does not take trainee usually) Mr. Syed Subzposh Lower limb arthroplasty Mr. Matt Waites Lower limb arthroplasty Mr K Jain Foot and ankle Mr. R Bansel Upper limb Mr. A Ahmed Spinal (mainly micro discectomy / injections)

ROTA

• Mr. Muneer who is coordinating the rota. Raj is the rota and registrars coordinating member of staff. You can fill your study and annual leave and leave it with Raj. However you need to obtain approval from Mr. Muneer. The official time scale for any leave to be requested is 6 weeks but the department is cooperative and can help if there are not many registrars on leave. • Rota coordinators emails : Mr. Azher Muneer [email protected] / Miss Raj Sonsana [email protected]

• The rota is 1: 10 and it is nonresident on calls. The on call is 24 hours shift. You are expected to leave at night around 9pm to 10 if the SHOs do not need you. If the SHOs are junior or not experienced CT ortho trainee then you may be called at night. Generally the night on call is not that bad. For weekend on calls it is also 0ne in 10 and it starts from Saturday and end s Monday morning.

• Note: As registrars do not take off days after on calls, they have 4 days every 10 weeks added on top of your annual leave to use. Use it wisely and you can only take it in Block of 4. Do not accept 3 days as we calculated it and it is 4 days.

• Juniors (F1-CT2) work pattern (e.g. on-call rota we may have ENT SHOS doing T&O), the juniors are not team based and the rota published weekly. • There is a handover excel sheet at the shared M drive and need to request an access by IT. All admissions need to be registered and presented.

• Most working commitments are based at RHH, but certain Consultants have clinics at Corbett Hospital, and you will be expected to attend your boss’s’ clinic.

Russells Hall Hospital – Dudley

HOSPITAL ACCOMODATION & DOCTORS MESS

Doctor’s mess is located at the ground floor near the main entrance on the right side behind the WHSmith shop. You can access with your card but you will need to make a monthly contribution to use its facilities (which is not much). There is no on call accommodation because registrars are non residents. The hospital has selection of onsite accommodation and to find out more you need to email accommodation officer.

This rotation is a great one and I truly recommend it especially you end up finishing most of your trauma numbers.

Enjoy the placement

Russells Hall Hospital sitemap