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Urology staff give up free time to cut backlog

BBC A man laying on a hospital bed with a medical sheet across his lower abdomen and thighs. Three members of medical staff are standing around him - two women and a man. There are monitor screens above his head and medical kit around himBBC
Medical staff must give up their personal time to run the extra clinics

Doctors and nurses have been asked to give up their free time to help reduce long hospital waiting lists ahead of winter.

Extra clinics are being held at University Hospital Southampton's Urology Centre on weekends.

High patient numbers, staffing challenges and post-Covid recovery have caused a backlog of more than 500 patients, according to the service.

The additional appointments are expected to cut patient waiting times in half.

A wife and husband sit in chairs in a medical waiting room. There is a water cooler to their left
Husband and wife John and Thelma Wheeler need screenings twice a year to check their bladder cancer has not returned

The urology centre, which opened in 2019, sees patients from across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset and the Channel Islands.

Bladder cancer patients Thelma and John Wheeler should have check-ups every six months but said appointments were often delayed.

Mr Wheeler said: "I should have had it done in August but they postponed it with no reason given."

"I just wanted to see everything was alright, that was all.

"A lot of things can happen, especially at my age."

The married couple were able to visit the centre in October because of the extra weekend clinics.

Two healthcare workers in blue scrubs, wearing gloves and plastic aprons. One of them is holding a remote control. In the middle of them is a man on a hospital bed. Two monitor screens above their heads show the inside of a urethra
Check-ups involve a small camera through which teams can examine the urethra, bladder and prostate

The clinics are for patients who have been waiting for cystoscopies - a test used to look inside the bladder using a tube and a camera.

The appointments are also for people waiting for an urgent suspected cancer referral and who should be seen within two weeks, under NHS targets.

Urologist Nico Grossmann said holding the extra sessions was necessary for both patients and the healthcare system.

"I think it's important to give the patients a diagnosis or just get rid of their concerns," he added.

Healthcare assistant Fran Argente wearing dark blue scrubs. She has her hair tied back and is standing in front of a wooden door
Instead of spending time with her family, healthcare worker Fran Argente is helping to run the extra clinics

Alongside regular urology staff, extra agency workers are brought in to run the weekend clinics.

Fran Argente, a healthcare assistant, said she would usually watch her son's football matches at the weekend but was working instead.

"That's okay, if I can help lots of people it'll be worth it," she said.

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