The London Bridge Thoracic Services
Occupying a unique place in the field of respiratory and thoracic medicine
Appointments & Enquiries
020 7234 2007
London Bridge Hospital
27 Tooley Street
London SE1 2PR
About the thoracic services at London Bridge Hospital
We’re proud to host this partnership of five eminent respiratory and thoracic consultants. The team have trained all over the world and are leaders in one of the UK’s highest volume respiratory and thoracic centres, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
This unique team of consultants provide the most extensive private respiratory and thoracic surgery services in the UK and specialise in all conditions of the lungs; from common respiratory conditions such as asthma and sleep apnoea to lung cancers, TB and inflammatory diseases.
Easy and rapid access to consultants and diagnostics
The London Bridge Thoracic Services team
The latest diagnostic and imaging technology
Our facilities provide an extensive range of the most accurate yet least invasive diagnostic procedures to help diagnose and treat all respiratory and thoracic conditions. Diagnostic tests include:
- Assessment of sleep disorders and sleep apnoea
- Bronchial challenge testing
- Bronchoscopy – a narrow tube is threaded down your trachea, or windpipe, to look at your airways; we offer rigid bronchoscopy, under general anaesthetic, and fibreoptic bronchoscopy, requiring a sedative
- Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)
- CT guided biopsy
- Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) – performed in our endoscopy department
- FeNO testing for asthma
- Fitness to fly assessments
- Histamine Provocation test
- Lung function testing
- Mediastinoscopy – a test looking at the centre of your chest, carried out under general anaesthetic, where tissue is removed through a tiny cut in your chest
- Percutaneous lung and pleural biopsies (CT or US-guided)
- Spirometry
- VATS lung biopsy – a technique undertaken laparoscopically, in which a tiny camera (thoracoscope) and surgical instruments are inserted into your chest through small cuts in the chest wall
- Ventilation-perfusion studies – assessing airflow and blood flow to the lungs through the inhalation of radioactive material
- The latest imaging technology: CT, MRI scanning, PET CT, and SPECT CT
Some of the conditions we treat
- Abnormalities of diaphragm muscle function including endometriosis
- Acute and Chronic Lung Infections
- Asthma
- Chest wall conditions such as pectus excavatum or carinatum, chest wall fractures
- COPD
- Emphysema
- Hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating which can be improved by a minor operation (thoracoscopic sympathectomy)
- Interstitial Lung Disease
- Lung Cancer
- Mediastinal tumours, including thymoma
- Mesothelioma
- Metastatic cancer to lung and pleura
- Pleural effusions
- Pleural empyema
- Pneumothorax
- Pulmonary Embolism
- Sarcoidosis
- Sleep apnoea
- Tuberculosis
Diagnosing and treating post COVID-19 patients
Since the pandemic began, Prof Santis has been treating patients with residual damage and inflammation in the lung with extremely positive results, reversing the effects in the majority of cases.
A centre for robotic surgery for lung cancer, thymoma and thymic carcinomas
In the hands of experienced robotic surgeons such as Mr Routledge and Mr Bille, appropriate lung cancer patients can benefit from robotic surgery including: minimal scarring from tiny incisions, lower infection rates, less blood loss and pain, lower conversion to open rates than laparoscopic, and a faster recovery time.
In robotic thoracic cases the far shorter length of stay in hospital can be as little as two days post surgery.
Innovation in the treatment of lung cancer
The key to excellent cancer treatment relies on an expert multidisciplinary team of specialist radiologists, pathologists, thoracic surgeons, medical and clinical oncologists alongside a dedicated team of specialist nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians, and other allied health care professionals.
Medicine is ushering in a new era in cancer treatment. Just a few years ago, Stage 4 lung cancer patients would have been looking at palliative care. But thanks to more recent innovations such as immunotherapy, patients can achieve remission.
A range of treatments is also now available in the pre-operative and post-operative setting to improve outcomes and reduce the chances of cancer recurrence.
The London Bridge Thoracic Services consultants have a long-established reputation in the treatment of thoracic cancer including:
- Lung cancer (small cell and non-small cell)
- Mesothelioma
- Thymic Tumours (thymomas and thymic carcinomas)
Services include systemic anticancer therapies (such as chemotherapy, targeted treatments and immunotherapy), radiotherapy and surgery. Access to the appropriate specialist is available immediately upon diagnosis.
"For oncologists who have been giving chemotherapy with bleak outcomes and no real clinical progress for decades, suddenly in the last two years it’s changed dramatically. And the rate of change continues to accelerate."
Mr Tom Routledge, Consultant Thoracic Surgeon.
The London Bridge Thoracic Services consultants have a long-established reputation in the treatment of lung cancers.
Contact us
The London Bridge Thoracic Services are situated in London Bridge Hospital.