The SAU Hot clinic is suitable for patients with general surgery or urology problems who might not require admission to hospital but who can be assessed in a private examination rooms, walk to radiology in the emergency zone and wait in a waiting area between investigation and review.

For patients who require an ultrasound scan, you will be assessed, have blood and urine tests performed, have the scan and then have a senior review when all the results are available. 

If the scan is of the upper abdomen, you cannot eat a meal for 6 hours before or  drink water up to 2 hours before the scan.

If the scan is of the lower abdomen, then patients will be advised to drink so they have a full bladder.

If a procedure is required, such as an insertion of a catheter, this can be performed in the clinic.

For patients with an abscess, you will be seen and assessed. If possible, surgery will be performed on the same day but in most cases, you will need to come back first thing on the following day to have surgery as a day case patient.

Ambulatory care (hot clinic) runs every day including weekends with the aim of performing a complete set of investigations and a review by a senior surgeon. This can take some time so you should expect to be in attendance at the SAU hot clinic for up to 4 hours.

Occasionally other tests might be required. such as a CT scan. 

Upon going home, you will have a letter informing their GP of their investigations and diagnosis. For some patients, a specialist clinic appointment or further outpatient tests might be arranged where necessary.

Patients with vascular problems can be seen in the vascular hot clinic. This clinic is located on Gate 5 and provides you access to vascular testing (Duplex ultrasound).

Admission to Hospital

If you do require admission to hospital, the average length of stay for most patients is 2 days. Some patients may require more specialist treatment, which might include surgery. If this is the case, you will be transferred to the relevant surgical specialist ward:

• 33B  Vascular surgery
• 34B  Urology and General surgery
• 34A  General surgery and Medicine

Referral to SAU

Referrals from GPs come via a call centre called the Hub. The telephone call is taken by an experienced nurse. Your GP will be asked for a full set of observations (to calculate a National Early Warning Score (NEWS) score). The nurse will then either:

• Arrange a direct admission for you to SAU
• Arrange an appointment in the appropriate hot clinic for you
• Discuss your referral with a surgeon.

Admission to SAU

On arrival it is important that you report to the receptionist.

If you have been directly referred into a bed on SAU, the first thing that will happen is that you will be assessed to see if you can be treated in ambulatory care. If this is not possible then blood and urine samples will be taken and you will be assessed by a doctor.  The doctor will then decide if further investigations are needed. 

Most emergency tests are carried out within 4 hours but some more specialist tests might require a longer timescale. There is a consultant ward round twice a day and all patients will be reviewed by a Consultant within 24 hours of admission.

Consultants from the Medicine for Older People specialty work collaboratively with the Surgical Admissions Unit team to comprehensively assess older patients who have undergone major surgery to identify and manage medical complications post-operatively and support recovery, rehabilitation and complex discharge planning.

Seminar room facilities range from our 130 person lecture theatre, to 60 person seminar rooms, and smaller spaces for meetings or tutorials.

Standard seminar rooms include PC and audio-visual facilities, with video conference and specialist clinical and medical training equipment also available.

Clinical Skills Training and Equipment

We have 2 purpose equipped clinical skills training spaces complete with sinks and examination couches.

We also have a wide range of clinical training and simulation equipment available for demonstrating and practicing clinical, medical and surgical skills and techniques.

This includes high fidelity simulation manikins such as the SimMan Essential and a range of part task trainers.

GMC Number: 4311609

Year of first qualification: 1996, University of Bristol

Specialty: Vascular Surgery

Clinical interests: 

Secretary: Debs Heard

Telephone: 0117 414 6378

GMC Number: 6105337

Year of first qualification: 2004, Bristol

Specialty: Acute Medicine and Stroke

Secretary: Lisa Williams

Telephone: 0117 950 5050

Specialty: Neuropathology

Specialty: Haematology

Specialty: Anaesthetics

Specialty: Anaesthetics

GMC number: 6120255

Year of first qualification: 2005, University of Bristol

Specialty: Anaesthetics

Clinical interests: Neuroanaesthesia, Clinical Governance, Human Factors Training

Secretary: Jean Moon

Telephone: 0117 414 1519