Vascular Access Team
What we do
The Vascular Access Team provides specialist and general treatments within the vascular access (VA) speciality. These range from line insertion, care and maintenance, troubleshooting, unblocking and removal. We also provide educational and training opportunities for staff, based on service requirement.
We accept referrals for inpatient and outpatient service users. We support our clinical colleagues with complicated processes such as ultrasound peripheral cannulations.
We serve both adult and paediatric patients and often work in collaboration with other district general hospitals and acute hospitals to provide joint care to patients.
We provide services Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm.
We have made advances in vascular device insertion by eliminating fluoroscopy as the primary line tip location method. We use a more patient-friendly ECG method as our line tip confirmation standard. By using the ECG approach, we prevent our patients from undergoing unnecessary exposure to radiation. This approach also enables us to carry out line insertion by bedsides accurately and safely. We pioneered the use of this approach for children several years ago. We are currently one of a handful of teams in the country to introduce a paediatric licence device for this purpose.
We are working closely with King’s Academy to develop training modules that will allow our workforce to benefit from the skills and knowledge of a VA specialist.
Before your appointment
Please check your appointment letter to see if you need to do anything to prepare for your appointment.
Please bring the following to your first outpatient appointment:
- your appointment letter
- any samples requested in your appointment letter
- a list of questions you would like to ask.
During your appointment
Please allow at least 45 minutes for your visit.
You will be seen by one of the VA clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) who will talk through with you what will happen and allow you to ask any questions you may have. For procedures like line insertion or removal of tunnel cuffed central lines we will require you to sign a consent form. You can still reserve the right to withdraw your consent.
At the end of your treatment
Your peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line will need to be removed at the end of your therapy by the district nurses, or by attending an outpatient appointment that will be arranged by your doctors before your discharge home or into the community. The vascular access CNS can be contacted if there are no staff available to remove the PICC line in the clinic.
Location
First floor, Cheyne Wing, King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS
Contact Details
- Main Reception: 020 3299 7709
- Email: [email protected]
- Paediatric Vascular Access CNS: 020 3299 7224
Patient information leaflets
| Title | File Size | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Caring for your midline | 222 KB | |
| Caring for your peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) | 219 KB |
Conditions we treat
We treat patients who require the following:
- intravenous therapy
- vascular access device insertion
- vascular access device removal
- support with line unblocking
Booking a patient at King’s
Referrals can be made by:
- other hospitals (paediatrics via general paediatric consultant of the week)
- other services in the Trust
- other health professionals, including nurses and GPs
All requests should be submitted via an electronic request system (EPR or EPIC).
Cancellations to requests should be discussed with the Vascular Access Clinical Nurse Specialist on 020 3299 7709.
Key Clinical Staff
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Mr Samuel Ojo | Lead Vascular Access Clinical Nurse Specialist |
| Mr Leigh Reyes | Vascular Access Clinical Nurse Specialist |