Welcome to Urology at Alder Hey
Welcome to the Urology Service at Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust.
We are recognised nationally as a specialist paediatric service for Urology within
the UK. Our patients come from across the country and around the world to be
treated for conditions they were born with or developed during childhood. Each
year, our team is involved in more than 4,000 outpatient visits and more than
1,000 surgeries and day case admissions.
Conditions we treat
We treat all problems of the internal and external genito-urinary systems in both
boys and girls. We care for children with anomalies of the external genitalia such
as hypospadias, hydroceles (swellings in the scrotum), undescended testes and
other penile and scrotal problems in boys and young men up to the age of 18.
We offer laprascopic or key hole surgery for many conditions.
We care for children and young people with kidney, ureter, bladder and
urethral problems that are; noted ante-natal, following birth, that develop in
childhood or as a young person or following injury. We also care long term for
children and young people that are affected by cancers within the urogenital
tract.
We offer a multi-disciplinary DSD - disorders of sexual differentiation service
and our team consist of; urologist, endocrinologist, general surgeon,
psychologist, gynaecologist, genetics team and specialist nurse.
Help for bladder, voiding problems within the urology treatment centre
Our urology treatment centre team (TCT) provides expert care to boys, girls and
young people with functional bladder problems which can result from bladder
storage and emptying difficulties. These difficulties can present as day and
night wetting, urinary tract infection, painful voiding and difficulties emptying
the bladder. We have access to psychological support and have a play
specialist as a part of our team. We offer a range of assessment and
treatments options which include; urodynamics, flow studies, bio-feedback,
pelvic-floor training, percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation. The use of
therapeutic play is integrated into our model of care and we use a variety
of approaches to work with children and young people, these include; art
therapy, poetry, dance and movement and drama. We have started to ask the children and young people what they want from our service and also evaluate our outcomes.
We also care for children with neurologic diseases such as spina bifida that
affect the bladder and result in poor bladder emptying or incontinence.
Transition service
Our Transition Service is unique.Transition begins by identifying those
individuals who are ready for care in Adult Urology. Through our Transition
Pathway we aim to deliver our patients onwards with a package of identified
care needs. Our adolescent urologist at Alder Hey continues the future care in
our partner adult hospital in Liverpool. We believe that this approach
encourages greater engagement and involvement for the patient and their family. We also have a new and exciting transition role with the appointment of a paediatric and adolescent gynaecologist shared between Alder Hey and the Women’s Hospital.
Research
Research is a very important part of our service. Scientific research is currently underway at the University of Liverpool as Simon leads a team undertaking
kidney stem cell research. Clinical research enables us to find the best ways in
which to care for children and young people with urological anomalies. We also undertake research which explores the child’s, young persons and
parents’ experience and we use this to shape our service, develop expertise
and also introduce new evidenced based, safe treatments.
Bowel management
As a part of our research in Urology we have explored the impact of using rectal irrigation in children with neurogenic bowel. We aim to support the child and family in the management of continence and have developed our skills in using irrigation with children. An outcome from our research study has been a clinical toolkit which can be used by parents, professionals, voluntary organizations. Please access this resource, print and share and if you wish provide feedback via the Alder Hey web site. This toolkit has been circulated to many different organizations.
Making contact
If you feel your child needs to see a member of our team you can
make an appointment via your GP. We are on the National choose and book
system and can offer you an out-patient appointment within 5 weeks.
Diagnostic investigations are delivered within the national targets of 2-4 weeks.
