Pioneers in patient care: consultants leading change
London
Innovation : An extracorporeal liver support machine for patients whose livers have failed
Professor Roger Williams, CBE
University College London Hospitals NHS Trust
Job title: Director, Institute of Hepatology, Honorary Consultant Physician
Specialty: Hepatology
Kidney dialysis machines provide a lifeline for patients whose own kidneys have failed and are unable to get a transplant. Until recently, there was no such equivalent for patients in liver failure. Professor Roger Williams, consultant hepatologist at University College London, has developed an extracorporeal liver support machine in collaboration with a German medical biotechnology company.
The project got off the ground three years ago, with funding from research grants. A formal clinical trial is underway, and results so far are encouraging. Five of Professor Williams’s first seven patients survived, a much higher proportion than he expected.
Professor Williams says: “These are desperately sick patients for whom this liver support machine is the last chance of survival.” Professor Williams would like to see more facilities for liver patients in a dedicated ward. The new funds for the NHS have not yet made an impact on the services he is able to offer.
He says: “Currently, I spend hours visiting patients who are scattered throughout the hospital on different wards because the pressure on beds is so great. The whole system is chaotic which is disconcerting for patients and wasteful of scarce medical time. Everyone agrees we need to do something about this but the pressures are just too great.”