Paediatric patient receives three surgeries at once thanks to multiple teams' collaboration

A four-year-old girl who needed three separate surgical procedures was able to receive all three at once, thanks to the collaboration of several Paediatric teams within University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Trust.

Isla Faily, from Henbury, was born with a cyst over her eyebrow. Her parents were told the only way to remove it would be through surgery, under general anaesthetic, when she was older. However, before Isla could have the surgery, she began to suffer from enlarged tonsils and her parents were told these would also have to be removed, another procedure which required a general anaesthetic.

Not wanting their four-year-old to go through surgery twice Isla’s parents, Yousif Faily and Lana Ali, asked their consultant in the Paediatric Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) team, Michael Saunders, if the surgery to remove her tonsils and her cyst could be done at the same time.

The joint operation was possible and arranged with the consultant plastic surgeon, Emily West. However, that was not to be the end of Isla’s medical needs.

Just weeks before her double op Isla and her parents were told she would need another operation to remove a bad molar.

Her parents informed Sarah Dewhurst, a consultant in the Paediatric Dental team, of her planned operation and asked if it would be possible to include this surgery with the double op.

The Paediatric Dental team got in touch with ENT and the third procedure was added to Isla’s planned surgery.

The surgery took two and a half hours, and Isla was up within an hour. All three teams visited her after the operation.

Isla’s father said: “I feel that an overall thanks needs to go to Trust for making this happen, but I would like to pass my special thanks to specialists in the teams.  A truly remarkable undertaking.”

Mr Martin Gargan, Clinical Chair for the Division of Women's and Children's Services at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust said: “This was an incredible undertaking by all the clinicians involved, including the Paediatric Dentistry team, the Children's ENT team and the Paediatric Plastic Surgery team. While not all procedures can be aligned in this way for every patient, it is fantastic to see multiple teams seizing an opportunity to collaborate.”