Colorectal Fellow

There is a dedicated 'beyond TME'/pelvic exenteration surgical planning meeting which occurs fortnightly (in addition to the main colorectal MDT)

There is a specialist colorectal on-call service at the Queen Elizabeth, Solihull and Heartlands sites at all times and there are also on-site MRI, PET-CT, CPET and stenting facilities. There is a dedicated enhanced recovery nursing service and there is on-site specialty support from hepato-biliary surgery, plastic surgery, urology and sarcoma. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy (including SABR) services are also provided on-site.

The appointed Fellow will work across the various sites under the direction and supervision of the educational supervisors and also the wider colorectal surgery department.

Lower gastrointestinal endoscopy is also provided at all sites.

The primary focus of the Fellowship is to maximise exposure to the pre-, peri- and post-operative care of patients with locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer as well as gaining operative experience in 'beyond TME surgery' and pelvic exenteration.

It is also expected that the Fellow will see and manage patients outside of this category in weekly out-patient clinics and on in-patient ward rounds.

Colorectal cancer surgery has traditionally been performed across three different sites (Queen Elizabeth, Birmingham Heartlands and Good Hope Hospital) and we are one of the busiest combined colorectal units in the country. Following the emergence of the Coronavirus, the Trust has established a 'cold' operating site for elective surgery at Solihull Hospital. This has more recently gained accreditation as an NHS elective 'hub' and a new 50 million state of the art theatre complex has recently now opened in November 2024. We perform approximately 350 colorectal resections annually, 70-80 of which are rectal cancer resections. The trust offers the full complement of open, laparoscopic, robotic and local resection for colorectal cancer. We are also a tertiary referral centre for locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer, anal cancer and sarcoma.

Pelvic exenterations are performed at Birmingham Heartlands, Queen Elizabeth and Solihull hospitals. Multi-visceral resections and limited sacrectomy are performed at all 3 sites, whilst high sacrectomy and total sacrectomy are conducted at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital with the additional support of the spinal and sarcoma surgeons. An average of 20-30 full exenterations are performed annually cross-site with an additional number of 'beyond TME' resections also., We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

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