New rheumatology clinic at Wellington Hospital helps more patients get important treatment

Rheumatology care at Wellington Community Hospital is growing from strength-to-strength following the launch of a new point of care ultrasound service (POCUS) this year.

The POCUS clinic aids with the rapid diagnosis of early inflammatory arthritis after a patient has been referred in by their GP, which means treatment can start promptly.

The service began in January, and runs 3 to 4 times a month, and includes a dual-run ultrasound scan service, provided by one of our sonographers.

Our consultant rheumatologists and specialist nurses see anywhere between 6 to 8 patients per clinic, with ultrasound scans completed for all of them during their appointment.

Dr Natasha Weisz is one of our rheumatology consultants, who was recently recruited from a large NHS trust in London.

“I came to live and work in Somerset as we were keen to relocate out of London,” she says. “An opportunity to work in Taunton presented itself via a LinkedIn Somerset FT job advert for a consultant position …and things went from there.

“Somerset is such a great area to live in, with many open spaces and parks, charming historic towns, good schools, and a nursery on site at Musgrove Park Hospital too…and a lot less congestion than in London!”

Natasha runs the service at Wellington Hospital, and explains why it’s working so well outside of the two acute hospitals - which is in line with the new NHS 10 Year Plan's three shifts.

“For many years we’ve been providing rheumatology care and treatment from our acute hospitals in Taunton and Yeovil,” she says. “As demand soars, the pressure on the service has increased.

“We have needed to become more efficient in the way we provide services, so it has been a huge step forward in terms of diagnosing patients faster and being able to commence treatment at their first appointment. This has had a very positive impact on the waiting times for our service.

“The patients we see in Wellington naturally tend to be from the local area, with rheumatology services also running from other community hospitals in Minehead, Bridgwater and South Petherton.

“Community hospitals are essential to enable the expansion of rheumatology services and benefits patients who live far from our main base at Musgrove Park Hospital.

“At our Wellington Hospital clinic, it’s even possible for an ultrasound scan to be arranged during the same appointment, so rheumatology consultants and specialist nurses can assess patients’ level of inflammation.

“The results of the scan can be acted on within the same appointment, so it’s very much a one-stop-shop that makes it quicker to diagnose the condition, and importantly, speeds up the time to begin treatment.

“One of the great things about our service is that we’re not only diagnosing patients with an inflammatory disease, but also identifying those who don’t, and we can discharge them from the service.”

With the service making a really positive impact at Wellington Hospital so far, Natasha says she hopes it can expanded further in the future.

“If we can recruit an additional specialist nurse then we’ll be able to run another clinic, and therefore get more patients started on important treatment,” she continues.

“The feedback from patients has been really positive and they’ve told us that they prefer having their appointments closer to home in Wellington. In fact, some patients who live closer to Taunton even request to have their follow-up appointments at Wellington Hospital!”

Colleagues from the Somerset-wide rheumatology service met earlier this year to discuss how the service could be run more efficiently across the county.

Natasha took part in the event and says: “The session allowed everyone to voice their opinions on what they feel could be improved within our department, as well as the challenges we face. It was a good opportunity to network and have a day with our administrative colleagues too

“As a department, we have a lot of ideas on how we could improve patient care and expand our service in line with national best practice and maintain patient safety.

“One of the real challenges for our service is the limited outpatient capacity at Musgrove Park and Yeovil hospitals. Community hospitals are essential in order to meet the rising demand in healthcare services.

“The POCUS service would not be possible without the help and support of our sonographer colleagues, and collaborating in this way has resulted in a fantastic service speeding up time to diagnosis and rapidly reducing waiting times.”

Martine Thurtle, chair of the Wellington Hospital League of Friends, adds: "We're really pleased to have this level of service running at Wellington Hospital as it's great news for people from the local area who can get this care and treatment closer to home."