Wye Valley NHS Trust

Women’s Health Department Patient information leaflet – Post-Menopausal Bleeding (PMB)   What is Post-menopausal bleeding? Any bleeding from the vagina after menopause. This can be light spotting, a change in discharge colour or heaver bleeding. What causes post-menopausal bleeding? There can be many different causes, including: The walls of the vagina become thinner. Small skin-tag growths (polyps) in the vagina, cervix or uterus. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) making the womb lining thicker.   Most of the time, the cause of post-menopausal bleeding is not serious, but sometimes it can be a sign of cancer of the cervix, vagina or endometrium…

The Urology department deals with both male and female urinary and genital problems which might require medical or surgical treatment. Wye Valley NHS Trust is part of the Three Counties Cancer Network and all patients are discussed at a Multidisciplinary Team meeting with Pathology, Radiology and Oncology colleagues. Urgent Suspected Cancer Referral – appointment and diagnosis within 28 days The Urgent Suspected Cancer(USC) Referral pathway is a referral pathway for patients with signs and symptoms of suspected cancer. The USC pathway aims to provide patients with a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within 28 days of referral. Your GP…

Dermatology The Dermatology department is based at the Gaol Street Health Centre, with some surgery being performed at the County Hospital. A wide range of services are offered to help diagnose and manage adults and children with skin, hair and nail problems. We manage a wide range of inflammatory skin conditions and skin cancers in an out-patient and in-patient setting. We are proud of our multi-disciplinary approach to managing our service and patients with Doctors, Nurses and healthcare assistants trained in specialist areas of practice including skin surgery, Phototherapy, Photochemotherapy, Photodynamic therapy, Iontophoresis, patch testing, biological therapies and wound care. We work closely…

Musculoskeletal Musculoskeletal problems are referred to the service by a GP or consultant. Referrals for service users being seen in a physiotherapy department (Bromyard. Ledbury, Kington, Leominster, Ross) will be screened by a senior physiotherapist and classed as either urgent or routine. Service users are telephoned to make an appointment if urgent. If the referral is routine they will be sent a letter asking them to telephone the relevant physiotherapy department to make a convenient appointment. Urgent referrals should be assessed within 14 working days. Routine referrals should be assessed within six weeks. In both cases service users are assessed…

'Martha's Rule' is an important patient safety initiative that gives patients, families, carers and our staff an additional escalation pathway if they are concerned that a patient is acutely deteriorating.

We rely on patient and public volunteers to enable research to happen. We would like to say a huge thank you to everybody who has volunteered in a research study and contributed to improving the lives of other people.   Clinical research provides the only reliable evidence for safe, effective healthcare. Without health research there would be no new medicines, tests or treatments for health or disease. There would be no advances to medical knowledge or improvements to care. Because of this, you may be asked about taking part in a study when you visit the hospital or another one…

Due to national guidelines for dentistry the service is operating in a different way: At present we are providing dental pain relief if required for urgent treatment. You can contact our clinics (see details on right of this page) for urgent advice. We also provide weekday evening advice clinics, Monday to Thursday, 5.30pm to 8pm.  If you require urgent dental advice outside the hours listed please telephone 111. Please note at peak times patients will be triaged in line with their clinical need and the most urgent cases will be given priority; patients are therefore advised to telephone at the…

Bronchoscopy and Thoracoscopy are procedures that are both performed in the Endoscopy Department at The County Hospital. They are both a form of investigation to examine the lungs but the way they are carried out is very different. They are both carried out by a respiratory consultant, sometimes two. In the case of thoracoscopy, there is also the addition of an anaesthetist. Bronchoscopy and Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) A bronchoscopy is a test where a Respiratory Consultant looks into the lungs using a flexible tube with a camera and light at one end. This procedure is performed under conscious sedation which means…

1 in 13 babies are born prematurely (before 37 weeks) in the UK.  If you start showing signs of labour before 37 weeks you will need to ring our triage department as soon as possible and come in to be assessed.  Early labour signs can include: Your waters breaking Abdominal pain Regular tightenings Vaginal blood loss Our special care baby unit in Hereford can provide care for babies who are 32 weeks and above. Therefore if you were to go into labour before this then a transfer to an appropriate unit would be organised as a matter of urgency. Once…

Back to Orthopaedics Mr Iain Bissell Job Title: Consultant Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgeon and Associate Medical DirectorSpecial interests: Foot and Ankle SurgeryAppointed to Hereford County Hospital 2007 Qualifications Mr Bissell studied medicine at St. Bartholomew's Hospital London, graduating in 1994. His orthopaedic training was in Oxford and Southampton; completed with fellowships in limb construction with Roger Atkins and foot and ankle surgery with James Calder. Since 2007 he has offered a comprehensive Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle service, including Trauma. He has served as Clinical Director for Trauma and Orthopaedics, during which time the department expanded its’ Upper Limb and Foot and Ankle…