We have a team of seven consultant laparoscopic colorectal surgeons, five based at The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough (Mr Wakefield, Mr Jha, Mr Aitken, Mr Reddy, Mr Macafee) and two at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton (Mr Clarke, Mr Garud).
We offer a full programme of surgical care to adults who have bowel cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, advanced pelvic malignancy, colonic polyps of any size and benign colorectal and anal problems.
Bowel and anal cancer surgery
Most patients have all their treatment at their local hospital (Friarage or James Cook) with only radiotherapy and some rectal surgery centralised to the Middlesbrough site.
Patients from across the North of England Cancer Network (South) receive surgical and radiotherapy treatment at The James Cook University Hospital for anal cancer.
We hold a weekly specialist bowel and anal cancer team meeting, which is attended by up to seven colorectal surgeons, two oncologists, one radiologist, one pathologist, one gastroenterologist, two specialist nurses, a member of the cancer services admin staff, and the bowel cancer screening representative. This aims to provide expert management for every patient.
Patients who are referred for surgery will meet members of the team before their operation and receive plenty of information and advice.
The majority of our bowel and anal cancer operations are now keyhole procedures (laparoscopic) although some patients still require open surgery to remove sections of the bowel which are usually rejoined (anastomosis).
Pre-admission clinics are regularly held for surgical patients, at which relatives are also welcome and encouraged to attend. Many patients are managed by “enhanced recovery protocol” measures which has been proven to be both safe, better for patients overall and even helps them get home quicker. All patients will be given advice and support prior to discharge.
The colorectal unit has been involved for many years with both the regional Northern Colorectal Cancer Audit Group (NORCAG) and the subsequent national audit programmes (NBOCAP) in monitoring our clinical outcomes.
We take our own outcomes and their reports very seriously. We regularly and routinely assess outcomes internally to ensure performance is consistently good.
We have a dedicated gastrointestinal (GI) surgery ward with additional support from a brand new high dependency and two intensive care units.
Our specialist nurses ensure that patients and relatives have a dedicated person to contact for queries and concerns.