About us
Our centre
Bristol is one of
six
centrally-funded ECMO centres
in
England.
The type of ECMO provided
in Bristol, known as veno-venous (VV) ECMO, is
used when a patient has a critical respiratory condition which
prevents the lungs from functioning normally. VVECMO is a
supportive measure that uses an artificial lung (membrane)
located outside the body (extra
corporeal) that puts oxygen into the blood (oxygenation) and
returns it to the body.
In Bristol, the service is
provided in
a joint partnership between North Bristol NHS
Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS
Foundation Trust (UHBW). The development of the Bristol ECMO
service is supported by the existing ECMO centres
at St Thomas'
Hospital and the Royal Brompton Hospital.
Our services
As of November 2022, the
Bristol ECMO service has provided ECMO support for patients in the
local Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucester area.
During October 2023, the service will be working
alongside the Royal Brompton Hospital to provide a 24/7 retrieval service
for the
South West of
England.
For more
information about VVECMO please download our patient
leaflet:
The service is
delivered
on the
intensive care unit on the Bristol Royal Infirmary site. For more
information about this unit please download the patient leaflets
below:
Our ECMO leadership
team
- Dr Stefan Gurney, Bristol ECMO Clinical
Lead
- Kathryn Pollock
and Carly
Smith,
Senior ECMO Nurse
Specialists
- David Machin, ECMO Lead
Perfusionist
- Tom Lunn, ECMO Lead
Physiotherapist
- Ya-Hui Liang, ECMO Lead
Pharmacist
Other specialties that we work
with:
- Radiology
- Respiratory
- Rheumatology
- Microbiology
