Emergency Department

The Emergency Department assesses and treats people with serious injuries and those in need of emergency treatment. We provide immediate care for people of all age groups. Both City and Sandwell hospitals have 24-hour emergency departments. They deal with all emergency injuries and illnesses, including paediatrics (specialist care for children) and trauma.

Do you have an Eye Emergency?
There is a specialist eye A&E department in the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre at City Hospital, which is open

Monday to Saturday – 8.30am to 7pm
Sunday-  9.00am to – 6.00pm

Please note, City Hospital’s main A&E department deals with eye emergencies outside these times.

For more information about disabled access for this service, please click here.

Team

Our ED team at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust (SWBH) consists of experienced and friendly team members who are self-driven and enthusiastic about providing the best care to our patients.

In this section, you will see our members’ profile and how they grow their career at our Trust.

Prem John

I am currently the specialty lead for Emergency Medicine (EM) at SWBH. I have been an EM consultant for more than ten years in this Trust. I was a trainee in this region and qualified with FRCEM in 2004. Having done my primary qualification and postgraduate surgical training in India and awarded PG degrees – MS, DNB and FRCS Edinburgh, I came over to the UK and have never looked back.

I teach on all the life support courses – ALS, APLS and ATLS. I am currently level 1 USS accredited and am working on level 2 competency

I am looking forward to being a part of the Midland Metropolitan Hospital, as one of the biggest ED departments in the UK.

I am keen to facilitate all the talents in our team to build and develop the future ED processes and take this department forward.

Colin Holburn

I have been an EM Consultant for almost 24 years and am now semi-retired. I have been the former head of training for EM in the West Midlands and the Training Standards Cahir at the RCEM. I recently stepped down from being the head of CESR committee for RCEM. I am the Trust’s lead for emergency planning, which means to co-ordinate the Trust’s response  in a major incident and ensure that the Trust is able to continue providing care even in exceptionally challenging situations, and that all patients receive the treatment they need. One of the great things about Emergency Medicine is that no shift is typical and that adds to my enjoyment of the specialty.  There is a great team effort involved in meeting the target and my part in it is to make sure that timely decisions are made for patients. It also means that in some instances the patient needs to remain in the Emergency Department longer than four hours if their clinical condition requires it. Providing high quality care for patients is not just a line, it is a mission for us.

My other roles include being an ATLS instructor and an examiner for the RCEM.

Outside of ED, I am a qualified pilot and a keen amateur photographer.

Cliona Magee

I started as a Consultant at SWBH in October 2013. I am dual accredited in Intensive Care Medicine.

My current roles and responsibilities include being the Lead for Trauma, Paediatrics and Resuscitation. I am also the Acute Oncology link for ED. I am a Senior Academy Teacher for Third year Medical students at the University of Birmingham. I instruct on ATLS and APLS at various sites. I collect NHS benchmarking data and I have a role as the Trust Appraiser.

I enjoy travelling, music and reading. I think the team here is dynamic and whilst faces challenges has the drive for progression and improving patient care.

Gbemi Okunribido

It was in 2003 when I first joined SWBH as a Consultant. Since then I have taken on many roles – such as Audit, Clinical Governance lead, Lead for junior doctor teaching.

Currently I am the College tutor for the City site. I am the Lead for Governance and Cardiac care. I teach on ATLS and am a Senior Academy Tutor for medical students at the University of Birmingham.

I am a trained mediator and an expert in medicolegal issues. I am a DIY enthusiast and have completed several projects successfully.

Hema Patel
Since 2001 I have had the privilege to work as a trainee at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust with outstanding consultant teams, including Emergency Medicine, Critical Care and General Medicine. I have over three years of experience working as Locum Consultant in Emergency Medicine at SWBH.

The Emergency Medicine team is a high performing team delivering excellent standards of care. I am an instructor on ATLS. I am also the Mortality Lead and Surgical Liaison Lead for ED.

Hamid Shehzad

I am the newest member of this dynamic and progressive team, having joined them in September 2015. I am a keen educationalist and am involved in various teaching projects in the department. I have taken over teaching for SHOs, this also includes simulation sessions.

I am interested in Emergency ultrasound and am a Level 1 and 2 USS instructor. I also teach on ATLS and ATSC. I have recently taken over the role of lead for development of non-training grades. I organise and deliver several courses around the region, these include safe sedation and hi fidelity trauma simulation courses. For my nursing colleagues, I supervise the ENPs for radiology requests and teach trauma to our nursing groups.

Hajra Usmani

One of the newer members of this fantastic team, I joined them in October 2014.

I was a West Midlands trainee and successfully completed FRCEM in June 2014. I am very enthusiastic about teaching and training and most of my roles and responsibilities depict this passion. I am an examiner for the RCEM and an instructor on ALS, APLS and ETC. I have recently joined the committee as CESR assessor for the RCEM. Currently I am working on a programme for Middle grade development, which will include rotations into various specialties to enable the trainees to get competencies required for CESR applications.

Outside of work, I enjoy theatres, reading, travelling and learning sign language from my two and half year old daughter.

Jonha Rizkalla

I am one of the most senior and experienced team members. I am now semi-retired and based at the Sandwell site of this Trust.  I like to try my best to share my knowledge with my team. It is an honour to know that my colleagues like to call me “Font of Knowledge” . I am very passionate about EM and always have patients’ best interest at the heart of my efforts..

Jeremy Smith

I have been working as a Locum Consultant in the Trust for the last two years. It has been great to be a part of this team. Working cross-site has given me the opportunity to appreciate the good qualities of both departments and enable me to bring about positive changes.

I am the Lead for Audits for both sites – involved in national audits for the RCEM.

Kalyana Murali

I have been a Consultant in Emergency Medicine for 14 years now. My various roles and responsibilities include being: the College Tutor for the Sandwell site; DRE-EM lead for the West Midlands Deanery; RCEM Examiner; Level two trainer in point-of-care EM ultrasound and a faculty in various regional and national courses.

I am an Instructor on Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support Courses. I also am a qualified Sonographer with a post graduate Diploma in Medical Ultrasound.

I am unashamedly partial to: Emergency Ultrasound, EM training, Resuscitation, minor injuries and (small time) research.

My personal interests include Cycling (1000miles/year!), club level Hockey, Reading, Travelling, listening to music (various genres).

Mohammad Wani

I joined the Trust as a Locum Consultant in Emergency Medicine in Sep 2013. Since then I have taken on many roles. Currently I am the departmental lead on Sepsis and Information Technology. I am an ALS Instructor and an avid cricket player. I have special interests in Emergency Ultrasound, Geriatric Medicine and Sepsis. The ED team at SWBH is quite progressive and performs well to achieve the best outcomes for patients.

Shehkar Chillala

Since I graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1985, not only have I had the benefit of seeing A&E/ Emergency Medicine develop but also the landscape of our local hospitals. Emergency Medicine is a very stimulating and exciting field. As a Consultant, I have taken lead roles in ED in Sepsis, Clinical Governance, Audits, Teaching, Rota manager.

My present continuing roles are ED Teaching lead at Sandwell for Foundation Doctors/Middle Grades, and I am also the ED lead for Emergency Nurse Practitioners at both Sandwell and City. My other role is as an Examiner for Medical Students at the University of Birmingham. In terms of teaching I have done the Post Graduate Certificate in Medical Education, which I found stimulating and beneficial and would certainly recommend to those interested in teaching.

Services

Our emergency departments cater for all types of serious illness and injury including medical, surgical and trauma requirements. Immediate X-ray, scans and blood supplies are available.  Doctors within the department are trained to the highest standards.

The department also offers early assessment and treatment for strokes, with the ability to stabilise, resuscitate and treat extremely ill or injured patients.  Priority is given to stroke and heart attack patients, along with young children. We use triage – a way of classifying cases in order of seriousness – to direct patients to the right treatment for the fastest possible service.

Across both sites our emergency departments have achieved the fourth lowest waiting time for the last three years. We are also recognised as the most experienced in managing serious chest trauma across the West Midlands.

Sandwell Hospital recently opened an £18 million emergency service centre. This has a 32-bed emergency assessment unit for medical and surgical emergencies, as well as GP referrals. There are also coronary (heart) care and catheter lab facilities (using blood vessels to get to obstructions like blood clots). All emergency services are fully supported by other areas, including scans (MRI, X-ray and ultrasound) and pathology (the study and diagnosis of diseases).

City Hospital has a medical assessment unit which enables patients to have full medical assessment before they are admitted to or discharged from hospital. The department also boasts state-of-the-art facilities, including a portable ultrasound machine.

Patient Stories

Getting you back on your feet

An 89 year, elderly gentleman attended the Emergency Department (ED) following a fall, reporting a painful shoulder. He was seen by a physiotherapist in ED, who  provided advice and some gentle exercises and referred him for follow-up by the Community Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Service and the Falls Service.

Two weeks later, he was reviewed by the Community Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Service at Rowley Hospital. The gentleman was already improving with the regime of exercises he had been given in ED. The advice given was reinforced with a gradual increase in his shoulder exercises. Two months later, after one ED attendance and four physiotherapy sessions, the patient reported that he was “99% better” and was able to use his arm as normal. He had also been assessed by the Falls Service and was about to attend an exercise group to reduce his risk of falling. Early mobilisation of the shoulder, alongside reinforcement of the key messages, allowed this gentleman to regain full function of his shoulder and to continue to live independently in his own home.

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Remember – Our emergency departments should only be used in a critical or life-threatening situation. Our emergency departments departments provide immediate emergency care for people with very serious or life-threatening illness.

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Please feel free to share your experiences of this service. Please e-mail your views to swbh.comms@nhs.net

Contacts

Birmingham City Hospital
Dudley Road
Birmingham
West Midlands
B18 7QH

Tel: 0121 554 3801

Accident and Emergency
0121 507 4770