Spinal surgery
What we do
King’s Regional Neurosurgical Unit provides a specialist spinal service for people living in South East London and Kent. We are part of the South East London and Kent Spinal Network.
We are part of the King’s neurosurgery department and our team includes neurosurgeons, physiotherapists, pain relief doctors, neuroradiologists, and a spinal clinical nurse specialist. This means we can offer a wide range of treatments and provide the best possible patient care.
We treat degenerative spinal conditions such as back and neck pain, lumbar, cervical and thoracic problems and sciatica.
We have four neurosurgeons who specialise in complex spinal surgery and the treatment of spinal injuries. We also have a joint complex spine clinic which enables the team to discuss the best treatment options for each patient.
For more information about spinal surgery, visit The British Association of Spine Surgeons and search for ‘patient information’.
British Spine Registry
The British Spine Registry (BSR) is a web-based database that aims to collect information about spinal surgery across the UK. This will help the BSR to find out which spinal operations are the most effective and in which patients they work best. This should improve patient care in the future. For further information about consenting to be included on the Registry see our patient information leaflet and consent form.
Preparing for your appointment
The musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapist or hospital consultant who referred you to our service will need to send us your MRI scan, this must have been taken in the past six months. We will not be able to review your case until we have received this scan. We will let you know what treatment plan is decided at the review meeting and if appropriate make an appointment for you to see us. The review meeting usually includes health professionals related to your care. This meeting is known as a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meeting.
If required, you may be contacted to arrange another MRI scan before your appointment at King’s. Some patients may also need to undergo other investigations before their appointment. If we have confirmed you need further investigations but you have not received a date for these yet, please contact the Spinal Co-ordinator or the MDT Assistant so they can arrange them.
If you have any concerns about your referral, please contact the Spinal Pathway Co-ordinator.
Useful information
BASS leaflets
The leaflets below, created by the British Association of Spine Surgeons, provide further information about specific spinal surgeries:
- Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion
- Cauda Equina Syndrome
- Cervical Disc Protrusion and Radiculopathy
- Cervical Stenosis and Myelopathy
- Degenerative Spondylolisthesis of the Lumbar Spine
- Lumbar Disc Protrusions
- Lumbar Nerve Root Block
- Lumbar Spine Stenosis
- Sacro-iliac Joint Pain
- Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion
- Vertebral Compression Fracture: Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty
MACP information cards
The cards below, created by the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists, provide information about cauda equina syndrome in a range of different languages.
If you are booked into King’s for surgery and have any questions or concerns, you can contact us using the details below.
Location
First floor, Willowfield Building, King’s College Hospital, Bessemer Road, SE5 9BG
Contact Details
- Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Nurse Specialist for Non-Acute and Elective Post-operative Spinal Surgery: 020 3299 5877
- Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Nurse Specialist for Non-Acute and Elective Post-operative Spinal Surgery Email: [email protected]
- Main Reception: 020 3299 5178
- Outpatient Appointments: 020 3299 6804
- Pre-assessment Team: 020 3299 4433
- Spinal MDT Assistant: 020 3299 1225
- Spinal MDT Co-ordinator: 020 3299 5178
- Spinal MDT Email: [email protected]
- Spinal Nurse Specialist for Acute, Urgent or Traumatic Post-operative Spinal Surgery: 020 3299 8350
- Spinal Nurse Specialist for Acute, Urgent or Traumatic Post-operative Spinal Surgery Email: [email protected]
Patient information leaflets
| Title | File Size | Link |
|---|---|---|
| British Spine Registry | 252 KB | |
| Cauda equina syndrome patient information leaflet | 138 KB | |
| Degenerative cervical myelopathy: preparing you for neck surgery and recovery | 3 MB | |
| Exercises after low back surgery | 896 KB | |
| Spinal fractures | 169 KB |
We treat a variety of spinal conditions using procedures that include:
- discectomy/microdiscectomy
- laminectomy
- lumbar spinal fusion
- anterior cervical discectomy / fusion (ACD/ACDF)
- cervical laminectomy
- foraminotomy
- cervical spinal fusion
- posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF).
Please note: We do not accept referrals for patients with neck or axial back pain. These patients should be referred to a local musculo-skeletal assessment service.
What is required before referring a patient
We do not accept routine spine referrals directly from GPs. Referrals must come via an MSK Triage and Treat service, in line with the National Back Pain pathway. This promotes review by an MSK Specialist (predominantly advanced practice physiotherapists) to provide the expert spinal assessment, request any diagnostics required, including MRIs, and make the referral for a spine surgery opinion when clinically indicated (NG59).
- Routine spine referrals to King’s College Hospital Neurosurgery must be accompanied by an MRI scan carried out within the past six months and sent to us via image link or on a CD.
- Emergency Spine referrals require immediate referral to a local hospital emergency department for assessment and MRI. The local hospital team should escalate to emergency tertiary care at King’s College Hospital as clinically appropriate after discussing with the on-call Neurosurgeon. See Emergency Referrals below.
Booking a patient at King’s
Routine Referrals
Please read the guidelines on the referral form before you make a routine referral to ensure the patient requires a neurosurgical opinion.
All referrals that come into the Neurosurgery Spinal team are initially discussed with the multidisciplinary team and may go on to receive a Neurosurgical outpatient appointment, or referrals may be returned to the referrer with advice regarding patients’ future management if a surgical intervention is not indicated.
- Routine Spine referrals must come via local Triage and Treat services (not direct from GPs), which must fully complete the Neurosurgery Spinal MDT Referral Form below and email it to King’s College Hospital Neurosurgery Spine team: [email protected]
- Secondary care consultants can make Spine referrals by fully completing the Neurosurgery Spinal MDT Referral Form and emailing it to King’s College Hospital Neurosurgery Spine team: [email protected]
We prefer to receive routine Spine referrals by email. However, they can also be made by post by fully completing the Neurosurgery Spinal MDT Referral Form and sending it to:
Spinal Team, Department of Neurosurgery
4th Floor, Hambleden Wing Central
King’s College Hospital
Denmark Hill
London SE5 9RS
Emergency Referrals
Please read the guidelines on the referral form below to determine the urgency of the referral.
From hospitals
Go to the acute neurosurgery referrals page for advice on how to refer using the inter-hospital system.
From GPs
Patients should be referred to their local emergency department for urgent assessment.
Other Queries
For other queries as well as advice and guidance on urgent and routine referrals, contact the Spinal Pathway Co-ordinator on 020 3299 5178 or the MDT Assistant on 020 3299 1225.
Referral forms
| Title | File Size | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Neurosurgery Spinal MDT referral form | 69 KB |
Key Clinical Staff
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Prof Keyoumars Ashkan | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Sinan Barazi | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Sanj Bassi | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr David Bell | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Gordan Grahovac | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Richard Gullan | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Pandurang Kulkarni | Associate Specialist Spinal Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Irfan Malik | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Nick Thomas | Consultant Neurosurgeon |
| Mr Christos Tolias | Consultant Neurosurgeon |