“Working together with individuals, families and medical professionals to offer support and information on Syncope and Reflex Anoxic Seizures”
Contact Details
PHONE: +44(0)1789 450564
FAX:+44(0)1789 450682
Email: info@stars.org.uk
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Professor Rose Anne Kenny
Professor Kenny is Head of the Falls and Syncope Unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne, which investigates over 3000 cases of syncope and falls per year. The unit has made a significant research contribution to syncope, in particular vasovagal syncope and syncope in older persons. The unit provides a high standard of care and expertise in a one-site-one-stop facility.
One-third of patients who attend the unit are young adults and two-thirds are older patients. The unit is unique in providing a combined assessment for the mixed symptoms of 'fits, faints, falls and funny do’s' - the underlying cause of which is often the same.
The unit, which is the largest in the UK, treats patients from all over the North East
of England and further afield. The unit gives patients rapid and tailored assessments and treatments for unexplained fainting, collapse, dizziness and falls. The team consists of four consultants, led by Rose Anne Kenny, Professor of Cardiovascular Research at Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health, and sees patients referred from Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments, GPs and other health specialists. The doctors are supported by specialists in Neurology and Cardiology, a Clinical Psychologist, Physiotherapist, Clinical Research Associates and Secretarial staff.
The unit focuses on the cardiovascular causes of falls and fainting and provides treatments such as medications for low blood pressures, medications for irregularity of the heart, and heart pacemakers.
Professor Kenny and the Team from the Falls and Syncope Service have recently been awarded the 2003 BUPA Foundation Care Award for excellence in the development of care for older people. BUPAs medical director and governor of the BUPA Foundation, Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen said: “With a growing ageing population, it is vital that the care Britain’s elderly people receive is appropriate to their needs. The BUPA Foundation was particularly impressed with the work of the Falls and Syncope unit at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. It is an outstanding example of best practice and teamwork and addresses many of the areas raised by the National Service Framework for Older People in the establishment of a dedicated integrated falls service. The benefits to both patients and the NHS speak for themselves. The approach developed by Professor Kenny and her team has made a significant contribution to the development of the care of vulnerable elderly people and it is important that their work is both acknowledged and shared.”
Representatives from the Commission for Health Improvement recently described the unit as a ” beacon of good practice for identifying and dealing with the causes of falls” and were impressed that the unit undertook continued research and audit activity. Professor Kenny said: ”Our extensive research activity into the causes and best treatments for fits, faints and funny do’s is rapidly translated into clinical practice so that patients continually receive the best management.
‘Fundamental to the success of our unit is the provision of the best care for patients to ensure that their symptoms are minimised. Our policy is to give patients the care they need, when they need it and where possible all at the same out patient visit - to minimise inconvenience to the patients. We also deliver enormous savings by reducing bed shortages which is a major problem for NHS hospitals,’ said Professor Kenny.
Professor Kenny and her research team have published in excess of 250 papers, book chapters and books and have long championed the need for dedicated syncope units through the UK. The Minister for Health recently visited the unit to learn more about how the model of care for falls and syncope might be replicated elsewhere in the NHS.
