Urogynaecology

We offer a range of investigations, including ultrasound and urodynamics as well as conservative, medical and surgical treatments including keyhole, outpatient, vaginal and abdominal techniques.

In addition to the services listed above, we care for women with more complex problems such as those who have been previously treated for these conditions, previously had surgery, as well as women who have more than one pelvic floor conditions.

We also manage women who have other disorders that affect the urinary system such as multiple sclerosis, Ehlers Danlos syndrome and fibromyalgia. We also work with other colleagues in gynaecology to manage women with chronic pelvic pain, and manage women with urethral, vaginal and bladder pain syndromes.

Childbirth should be a happy event for a woman and her partner that usually goes smoothly. Unfortunately a small number of women find their delivery to be traumatic and need further care afterwards. We provide Maternal Pelvic Health Service specifically for these women.

We offer:

• Antenatal assessment and support in pregnancy for women that have previously sustained childbirth related perineal injury
• A comprehensive postnatal service for women who have suffered more severe or complicated perineal trauma or pelvic floor injury. This includes those who sustained damage to the anal sphincter (third/fourth degree tears). When required, we offer in our clinics endoanal ultrasound and manometry to assess sphincter function.
• Support for emotional and physical well-being for women with childbirth related pelvic health problems.
• Specialist womens’ health physiotherapy to promote long term pelvic floor health, which may include specialist treatments such as pelvic floor muscle stimulation or biofeedback.

We provide our services in Epsom General Hospital, St Helier Hospital and also in Leatherhead Hospital

We offer a service that, above all, puts the patient first, and provides a comprehensive multidisciplinary service that caters for all patients. 

Urogynaecology clinical nurse specialists, clinical fellows, a specialist pelvic health midwife, women’s health physiotherapists and a dedicated administrative support staff complete the team.

The urogynaecology and women’s pelvic health team consists of three accredited subspecialist urogynaecologists.

 

Professor Stergios Doumouchtsis

Job title

Consultant Obstetrician, Gynaecologist and Subspecialist Urogynaecologist

Email address

s.doumouchtsis@nhs.net

Service

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

About

Professor Doumouchtsis is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist as well as a Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists accredited Urogynaecologist. He is also a visiting Professor at the University of Athens, Medical School and an Associate Clinical Professor at the American University of the Carribean, School of Medicine.

Professor Doumouchtsis is a member of several national and international scientific committees and professional societies. He has authored over 100 peer reviewed articles and more than 40 book chapters. He is the Editor of the Textbook Childbirth Trauma and a co-Editor of the Oxford Textbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology  and of the Oxford Handbook of Emergencies in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Professor Doumouchtsis is the founder and Lead of CHORUS, An International Collaboration for Harmonising Outcomes, Research and Standards in Urogynaecology and Women’s Health (i-chorus.org) and has contributed as an invited speaker and chairman in national and international conferences. He is currently a Scientific Editor for BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Special interests and treatments

• Urinary urgency, frequency, urgency incontinence (overactive bladder)
• Stress urinary incontinence
• Pelvic organ prolapse (cystocele, rectocele, uterine / vault prolapse, primary and recurrent)
• Childbirth perineal trauma
• Voiding dysfunction
• Recurrent cystitis
• Urethral and bladder pain syndrome
• Pelvic pain
• Defaecatory difficulty, anal incontinence
• Treatment of labial / Bartholin's cysts
• Enlarged or asymmetric labia

GMC number

4741286

 

Mr Demetri Panayi

Job title

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, subspecialist Urogynaecologist

Service

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

About

I trained at Imperial college medical school and completed my general training in obstetrics and gynaecology in southwest London before returning to Imperial to complete higher subspeciality training in urogynaecology. I returned to settle in southwest London when becoming a consultant in 2010 at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. We now offer a comprehensive service to women which I hope to continue to develop. I am married with two children who were both born at St Helier.

Special interests and treatments

Female urinary incontinence including recurrent incontinence, pelvic floor disorders including prolapse, recurrent prolapse, bladder/vaginal/urethral pain syndromes, childbirth injury including anal spincter injury. Treatments include: vaginal repair, pelvic floor/vaginal reconstruction, sling procedures, vaginal and abdominal vault procedures, urodynamics, cystoscopy, botox treatment, bladder neck procedures.

GMC number

4438782

 

Miss Zainab Khan

 

Job title

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Subspecialist Urogynaecologist

Service

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

About

Zainab has a strong passion for obstetrics and gynaecology. Being the daughter of a surgeon and gynaecologist, she always wanted to persue a career in medicine.

She carried out her specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology in Wales which was followed by a three-year Fellowship training in the sub-speciality of urogynaecology.

She joined Epsom and St Helier in April 2015 as a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and a Sub-specialist Urogynaecologist.

She is passionate about providing excellent care to her patients and develops a good patient-doctor relationship. Within this short time span, she has become a popular member of the team.

Special interests and treatments

Management of pelvic floor dysfunction including:

• Conservative and surgical treatments of pelvic organ prolapse including pelvic floor repairs, vaginal and abdominal hysterectomies, uterine conserving prolapse surgery including sacrohystropexy and sacrospinous hystropexy. Vault support surgery including sacrospinous fixation and laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy.
• Investigation and treatments of female urinary incontinence, offering a wide variety of minimally invasive as well as advanced surgical choices including TVTO, autologous fascial slings, urethral bulking and intra-detrusor Botox injections.
• Investigation and management of perineal trauma following childbirth.

Main location

St Helier Hospital

GMC number

6066974

Other key staff

• Melissa Dakin, Urogynaecology Clinical Nurse Specialist

• Anna Bosanquet, Specialist Pelvic Health Midwife

Registered Midwife, NMC 86I1248E

Qualifications: BSc (Psychology) MSc (Medical Sociology), DipHE Midwifery, PG Certificate in Teaching 

Since qualifying as a midwife in 2003, Anna has worked in a variety of clinical and academic roles, including specialist positions such as providing continuity of care to vulnerable women, a Research and Audit Midwife, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery at Kingston University/ St George’s Medical School,  and Senior Research Midwife and a tutor at the Imperial College Medical School/NHS Trust. In 2007, in collaboration with the urogynaecology, obstetric and midwifery teams at St George’s Hospital in London Anna was involved in the development and subsequently led the first fully comprehensive midwife-led perineal service in the UK. Now working at Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust as the Specialist Midwife for Perineal Health, Anna runs regular clinics for pregnant and postnatal women experiencing pelvic floor problems, those who recently sustained more severe types of perineal injury, or experienced perineal trauma in the past and require assessment, advice and preparation for the forthcoming birth - both physical and psychological. Anna is part of the multidisciplinary urogynaecology team as well as belonging to the wider maternity unit, working closely with obstetricians and midwives, acting as a daily communication channel between the two specialties thus enhancing continuity of care to women, and providing support and teaching to clinicians. 

Publications and conference presentation

• Dr Olga Divakova, Senior Clinical Fellow in Urogynaecology

Olga has been training in obstetrics and gynaecology since 2015. During her first years of general training she has been expressing a particular interest in Urogynaecology.

She joined Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in 2020 to acquire skills and knowledge in Urogynaecology. Olga is working close with the Consultants and other members of the team to provide high standard care of pelvic floor disorders. She is actively involved in service improvement and research in the department.

Main location

St Helier Hospital

GMC number

7530863

• Margaret Flynn, Gynaecology Matron

• Elizabeth Ridge, Patient Pathway Co-ordinator (PPC)

Liz Ridge, PPC (Patient Pathway Co-ordinator) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Epsom Hospital. Liz has worked in the department for more than 20 years, providing administrative support and booking patients into clinics, arranging operations and in the day-to-day running of clinical sessions, including being a point of contact for patients to ring with queries.

• Lisa Dutfield, Patient Pathway Co-ordinator (PPC)

Prolapse

• Anterior vaginal wall repair [docx] 58KB
• NICE patient decision aid vault prolapse [pdf] 184KB
• Laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy [docx] 417KB
• Pelvic floor exercises [docx] 113KB
• Posterior vaginal wall repair and perineal body repair (perineorraphy) [docx] 56KB
• Sacrospinous ligament suspension and sacrospinous hysteropexy [docx] 55KB
• Obesity and the pelvic floor excercises [pdf] 654KB
• RCOG consent advice for vaginal prolapse surgery [pdf] 434KB
• Pelvic organ prolapse [docx] 5MB
• Vaginal hysterectomy [pdf] 296KB
• Vaginal hysterectomy for uterine prolapse.docx [docx] 56KB

Urinary symptoms and continence surgery

• Autologous fascial sling [docx] 166KB

• Bladder training for overactive bladder [docx] 57KB
• Botulinum toxin injections for overactive bladder [docx] 58KB
• Pelvic floor exercises [docx] 113KB
• Urethral bulking injections [docx] 54KB
• NICE Patient decision aid Stress incontinence [pdf] 876KB
• Mid-urethral tapes for stress urinary incontinence.docx [docx] 57KB

Investigations

• Urinary flow rate test [docx] 52KB
• Urodynamics test [docx] 49KB
• Pelvic floor exercises [docx] 113KB

Maternal pelvic health

• Pelvic floor exercises [docx] 113K

Other

• Posterior vaginal wall repair and perineal body repair (perineorraphy).docx [docx] 56KB

• Vaginal pessary.docx [docx] 53KB
• OASIS patient info leaflet.pdf [pdf] 199KB