Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) service at Montefiore from Jan 2023
It has taken an entire year to get a new Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) service set up. Part of that is dealing with all the clinical governance and safety requirements that a private hospital expects, part of it is the procurement of equipment and then lastly the staff...
Seeing the Right Person – First Time!
The past year has seen a shift in how patients access healthcare. With limited access to GPs and challenges in getting seen and referred to NHS specialist care, more patients are choosing to take matters into their own hands and self refer for private healthcare. But...
New Virtual Dermatology Course for GPs 2021
This Thursday I will be starting the first of monthly education sessions aimed at GPs. This is following on from the successful Mole Hill series I ran during the first lock down last May. Instead of weekly sessions, we will be hosting these talks on a monthly basis...
New Mole Mapping Service
I am really pleased to announce a new “Skin Cancer Screening & Mole Mapping” service. This is aimed at anyone with concerns about skin lesions, particularly with changing or irregular moles. Patients who spend a lot of times outdoors, have lived abroad or ever...
NHS funding for JAK inhibitors for severe alopecia
Baricitinib is the first JAK inhibitor approved in the US and Europe for the treatment of severe alopecia areata. In the UK the national institute for health and care excellence NICE evaluates new "technologies" for their efficacy and cost effectiveness and decides...
JAK inhibitor updates in Alopecia Areata
Research into JAK inhibitors as a treatment for alopecia areata continues and we have now seen the first peer reviewed publication of a placebo controlled trial for the drug Baricitinib, showing response rates of over 50% achieving an improvement to less than 20%...
Changes to Services 2021
So far, 2021 has been really busy in the private sector for dermatology. There is no doubt this is in part due to Covid, with difficulty for patients getting to see their own doctor and longer than normal waits in the NHS. Locally in the NHS, the average wait for a...
Reflections on 2020
As we reach the end of the year it is a good time to look back and reflect on a year like no other. It's hard to believe that twelve months ago none of us had heard of Covid, Zoom, social distancing and lockdowns. NHS services have had to radically change and the...
Contact Immunotherapy with Diphencyprone for Alopecia
When treating Alopecia Areata there are two main strategies, either suppress the body's immune system (steroids, immunosuppressants, the new JAK inhibitors) or stimulate the immune system in the skin surface. The latter approach is thought to divert the immune system...
Introducing Videotrichoscopy to My Practice
I have long wanted to be able to share with patients what I am seeing when I examine their scalp and hair with my dermatoscope, a fancy magnifying device with posh polarising lights. Seeing the hairs when blown up on a screen and appreciating the variation and...
New Temporary Clinics for Face to Face Review June, July 2020
Covid 19 has had a major impact on healthcare in the UK and it is likely to have a lasting effect for several months to come. All of the local private hospitals entered into contracts with the NHS to support the crisis. This effectively means that the NHS has...
Alopecia Areata Trial Update – ALLEGRO by Pfizer May 2020
We have now finished recruiting for the first of two clinical trials investigating JAK inhibitors in the management of Alopecia Areata being conducted by Pfizer. Our first patients are approaching the half way point of the study. In the UK there are 5 sites in...