Intestinal Failure Service: Leading comprehensive care for intestinal failure
42-52 Nottingham Place , London, W1U 5NYWelcome to the Intestinal Failure Service at The Princess Grace Hospital
The Princess Grace Hospital is delighted to announce the launch of its multidisciplinary intestinal failure (IF) service, one of the only private IF services in the UK. The service supports a group of very complex patients with severe gastrointestinal disorders and advanced malignancy who are unable to maintain their nutritional and fluid requirements without ‘artificial’ nutrition. A dedicated IF service, enables such patients to be optimised for the advanced surgical and medical treatments they need to manage their primary conditions.
Our expert multidisciplinary IF Team oversees the delivery of inpatient enteral and parenteral (intravenous) nutrition, and provide nutritional advise and input to multiple clinical teams at HCA UK to ensure safe and effective treatment. Furthermore, the service has partnered with home care companies to allow patients with chronic intestinal failure, who need long-term parenteral support, to receive that treatment in the comfort of their own home, a unique service in the private sector.
Equipped to deal with complex conditions
Intestinal failure can be due to a multitude of clinical conditions including surgical complications, short bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and advanced gastrointestinal malignancy. We are on hand to treat patients with all types of intestinal failure, including those who need complex GI surgery in addition to their nutritional support.
Different types of intestinal failure
Self-limiting
Type 1 IF is acute, short-term and self-limiting. It can resolve spontaneously without treatment and lasts less than 28 days. Some examples of type 1 include acute post-op ileus and acute inflammation.
Prolonged
Type 2 IF is a prolonged, acute condition which requires complex multidisciplinary team care and IV supplementation over periods of weeks or months. Some examples of type 2 include abdominal sepsis, enterocutaneous fistula and GI complications.
Long term
Type 3 IF is a chronic condition in which patients need IV supplementation over months or years. This can be irreversible. Some examples of type 3 include short bowel syndrome, chronic obstruction and motility disorders.
Support Services
Our IF service forms part of the wider Complex Gi Centre at Princess Grace and is equally supported by complementary clinical teams, including our level three intensive care facility, outstanding medical support from Physicians Clinic, along with first-class radiology, Clinical Nurse Specialist, physiotherapy and more.
Complex GI Centre
At The Princess Grace Hospital, we have the clinical expertise and infrastructure to diagnose and treat the full breadth of GI conditions, no matter how complex. Our robust governance structure and consultant-led multidisciplinary approach ensure that patients receive the most appropriate treatment and management plan for their condition.
ICU
At The Princess Grace Hospital our state-of-the-art intensive care unit, which has an integrated high-dependency unit, means we can deliver enhanced patient care to the most critically unwell patients, while our ward-level critical care outreach team means we can support those patients who require extra monitoring in a traditional ward setting.
Nutritional support
We deliver enteral and parenteral nutrition support as well as expert nutritional analysis and advice to our patients. Our programme allows patients with chronic conditions who need parenteral nutritional support to receive that treatment in the comfort of their own home. Due to the complex nature of this treatment, The Princess Grace Hospital is proud to be one of the few in the UK able to offer it.
Patient story
“I’m six foot two and my average weight at the time was around nine and a half, or 10 stone. If you look back at old family photos, I'm skin and bone, you know?”
Jon Ashby, 58, is recalling his referral for surgery a little over 10 years ago. Having lived with Crohn's disease of the small intestine for most of his life, he was showing signs of intestinal failure (IF) and was becoming dangerously malnourished.
Meet our expert multidisciplinary intestinal failure team
Our patients benefit from the combined experience of a whole team of clinicians, including:
Surgeons
Mr Alastair Windsor, Consultant General Surgeon
Mr Edward Westcott, Consultant General Surgeon
Miss Caris Grimes, Consultant Laparoscopic General and Colorectal Surgeon
Dietitians
Glenda O’Connor, Lead Dietitian
CNS
Dierdre Cunningham
Noemie Madrid
Radiologists
Dr Andrew Plumb
Gastroenterologists
Dr Farooq Rahman, Consultant Gastroenterologist
Professor Peter Irving, Consultant Gastroenterologist
Professor James Lindsay, Consultant Gastroenterologist
Pharmacists
Jaime Whiteside
Wider healthcare team:
- Haematologists
- Microbiologists
- Nutritionists
- Oncologists
- Pathologists
- Psychiatrists
- Physiotherapists
Contact us
If you have any questions or want to refer your patient to the intestinal failure service, please email cgic@hcahealthcare.co.uk.
We can facilitate transfer of NHS or private inpatients from other HCA UK facilities to The Princess Grace Hospital. Please refer as early as possible so the team can offer important early advice about patient management.