Our Urology department can see up to 50 patients a week following the launch of a new state of the art ESWL (Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy) machine at King George Hospital.

ESWL is a non-invasive procedure for kidney stones, which uses high energy shock waves to break down stones into smaller fragments that can pass out of the body.

Previously, the Trust used a mobile machine from a third-party service, which limited the team to treating just 10 patients only on Saturdays. However, the launch of the ESWL machine means we can treat five times more patients a week, reduce the need for more invasive procedures and offer both planned and emergency care.

Junaid Masood, consultant urological surgeon, at our Trust said: “We’re delighted to introduce a state-of-the-art ESWL machine and urology workstation providing our patients gold standard elective and emergency treatment.

“This service will improve patient pathways, reduce accident and emergency re-attendances, and reduce our elective waiting lists.”

Kerry Chapman, speciality manager, urology also added: “This machine will postively impact patient care and outcomes as they'll be treated quicker and will avoid invasive procedures." 

The introduction of the ESWL machine will significantly improve patient experience whiles directly contributing to the work the Trust is already doing to reduce waiting lists.