The team, based at County Hospital, provides a ventilation service for the whole of the West Midlands and parts of North Wales and South Cheshire. As part of this there is an outreach service that can accommodate tracheostomy ventilated patients and patients on NIV for more than 14 hours including those that are ventilator dependant. The service has a 24 hour helpline service via a dedicated ward for ventilation where NIV consultants can also offer advice if needed the phone number for this helpline is: 01782 6757470. There is also a 24 hour technical call out for faulty equipment if clinically appropriate.
The cardiology and NIV wards are co-located and they have access to specialist CMR, echo as well as routine and specialist advice on a priority basis.
How to access the service
For use of the clinic a patient can be referred by a GP or paediatric consultant.
The team
Dr Ajit Thomas
Consultant Respiratory Physician
Dr Ajit Thomas has a sub-speciality interest in non-invasive ventilation and sleep medicine. He is one of three consultants who help run one of the largest ventilation centres in the Midlands. He also reviews patients with complex sleep disorders including neurological sleep disorders. He is also interested in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.
Dr Naveed Mustfa
Respiratory Consultant
Dr Naveed Mustfa was appointed Consultant in Respiratory and General Internal Medicine in January 2005. He has a sub-specialist interest in respiratory physiology and non-invasive ventilation and has completed a PhD in Respiratory muscle weakness from Kings College London. He is one of the Cochrane reviewers for NIV in Motor Neuron disease patients. He is also a Stakeholder reviewer of NICE guidelines in MND. Dr Mustfa also runs a NIV clinic at University Hospital Birmingham.
Dr Martin Allen
Consultant Physician
Dr Allen has interests in a variety of respiratory problems including ventilatory support and sleep medicine. He has served as chair of the respiratory EWG on coding and payment systems, is the west midlands rep for specialist commissioning (respiratory) and was the previous National clinical lead for sleep apnoea. He has a keen interest in the management of patients with respiratory failure due to muscle disorders.
Other key people in the team include:
- Marie Mountford , Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Susan Whitfield , Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Louise Evans , Clinical Nurse Specialist
Clinics
Adult
Clinics are held at University Hospital of North Midlands
- Respiratory non-invasive muscle testing
- Regular ventilatory failure clinic
- Nurse led ventilation clinics
- Walk in patients for day-case ventilation initiation, oxygen titration and assessment of ventilation
- Offer PEG and RIG insertion as routine and emergency for patients with suspected respiratory muscle weakness and those established on NIV
- Fitness to fly tests on patients with neuromuscular conditions among others
- Overnight oximetry, Limited sleep studies
- Full polysomnography