Medical team becomes only service of its kind in the Midlands to receive European recognition for its training

The musculoskeletal (MSK) team at Cannock Chase Hospital – part of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) – is one of only five in the UK to be accredited as a network of imaging training centres by the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR).

Cannock has hosted training for rheumatologists – doctors who diagnose and manage chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis – and sonographers, who specialise in ultrasonic imaging devices to produce diagnostic images of anatomy and diagnostic data, for 21 years and 15 years respectively.

Over the last 12 to 18 months, the MSK ultrasound rheumatology department has expanded by training new members of staff, including specialist doctors, radiology and rheumatology registrars, sonographers and nurses.

This has allowed patient capacity to increase by 150 per cent, encompassing work from Radiology, Orthopaedics and Connect Health (Rheumatology), a private company which provides community services in partnership with the NHS.

The MSK team, which operates in three consulting rooms in the Davy Unit at Cannock, has seen its volume of patients increase from 21 in March 2021 to 174 in March 2023.

“We are extremely proud and privileged as a department to have successfully been approved as one of a select few EULAR network of imaging training centres in the UK,” said Richard Brindley, RWT’s first full-time MSK and ultrasound consultant sonographer in rheumatology.

“This will enable the department to attract a greater number of rheumatology trainees, as we can now offer validated ultrasound training.

"Since my appointment, management and the rheumatology consultants have fully supported the vision to increase capacity, which we hope to expand to New Cross Hospital in the not-too-distant future.

“It is testament to the hardworking staff within our department that our waiting times for ultrasound scans and guided injections are less than four weeks.

“Approval from EULAR is one of several goals we have set for ourselves to expand our services on our journey to become a training centre of excellence in the Midlands.”

The department was the vision of Mr Brindley, Dr Tom Sheeran, consultant rheumatologist and clinical lead for rheumatology at RWT, and Dr Pete Dawes.

Mr Brindley wants to expand the service.

“To be specialist in MSK conditions is unusual so hopefully this recognition will attract more people to work here,” said Mr Brindley.

“We’re looking to add more training, more consulting rooms and more staff. Ideally we would like this service to be at New Cross as well.”

The training started as a collaboration with Keele University, and Alison Hall, who was on secondment to the MSK team from Keele, trained both Mr Brindley and Dr George Hirsch, consultant rheumatologist and clinical lead for MSK and ultrasound, in imaging.

Dr Hirsch said: “This is a real accolade in terms of professional recognition – we have been conducting training here for many years and the management and consultants have put a lot of backing into this, and now it’s coming to fruition.”