CF consultants
Dr Alex Higton – centre director
Dr Higton trained in the South West Thames region, and worked within the Brompton CF team as well as a lung transplantation post in Western Australia during her registrar training. She has been a consultant at Frimley since 2011 and took over as director of the CF unit in 2015. She divides her time between looking after CF patients, general respiratory and general medicine at Frimley and her role as Associate Medical Director for Patient Safety.
“Dr Orchard, Dr Ewence and I strive to provide excellent CF care close to home for our local CF population. We have a consultant led, and largely consultant delivered service with an excellent multidisciplinary team, so you can expect to see one of us at nearly every clinic appointment and at times when you are unwell and need admission to hospital.
We keep up with cutting edge developments in CF care and ensure that new treatments are available to our patients at the earliest opportunity.”
Dr Chris Orchard
Dr Orchard trained in the North West Thames region. As part of his training he undertook a research degree with the CF team at the Brompton and has also worked with the transplant team at Harefield. He joined Frimley as a consultant in 2014. He looks after both CF patients and also bronchiectasis and general respiratory patients. He is the clinical lead for thoracic medicine and the high dependency unit for Frimley Health.
Dr Sandie Ewence
Dr Ewence trained in Surrey and London. As part of her training, she worked with the Brompton CF team and the lung transplant team at Harefield Hospital. She undertook a further period of training through a CF Trust Fellowship at both the Royal Brompton and Kings College Hospital. She joined Frimley Park as a consultant in 2021. As well as looking after the CF patients, she looks after general respiratory patients and general medical patients, including those on the medical high dependency unit.
Adult CF specialist nurses
Judith Duguid – CF specialist nurse – 0300 613 4597
Emy Cudiamat – CF specialist nurse – 0300 613 2619
Lani Santos - Inpatient senior sister – 0300 613 3177
CF nurses mobile - 07393240662
There are two full time CF specialist nurses, both working four days per week.
Judith has worked full time on the CF unit since 2007 and Emy has worked full time on the CF unit since 2014. Both have previously worked with CF patients before becoming CF specialist nurses.
Lani became CF inpatient senior sister in 2019 after working within the hospital as a senior sister for several years.
“We act as an advocate for our patients, their families and a resource for colleagues. We provide support, information and guidance to allow our patients to make informed decisions about their care. We also have expertise in the management of ports, PICC lines and the care of CF related complications.
"We strive for excellence and constantly search out new methods and practices to improve patient care. Our CF specialist nurses and senior sister are active in local and national CFSN groups.
Please contact us or leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible if we are unable to answer the telephone.”
Adult CF specialist dietitians
Carolyn Bradshaw (Mon-Thurs) and Charissa Kettley (Wed-Fri) – Adult CF specialist dietitians – 0300 613 2635
Charissa has worked at Frimley Park Hospital since 2011 and joined the CF team in 2013. Carolyn has worked in CF since 2018, having been at Frimley Park Hospital since 2017.
"Nutrition is an essential part of CF care as it has been shown to have a direct impact on lung function. We provide individualised dietary advice and support to all our inpatients and outpatients. Dietary treatment plans are agreed with patients in order to help them to achieve a healthy weight and nutritional status to maximise their lung function. This may include changes to oral intake, initiation of supplements or tube feeding. We work closely with the diabetes team in order to effectively manage patients with CF-diabetes. We also focus on the management of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, bone health and fat-soluble vitamin supplementation.
We are members of the British Dietetic Association and Cystic Fibrosis Specialist Dietitians Group, and we regularly attend meetings, study days and conferences.”
Adult CF specialist physiotherapy team
Joanna Saunders (Mon/Wed/Thurs), Lisa Johnson (Mon/Tues/Wed(pm)/Fri) and Ann Banks (Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri) 03006-132636 / fph-tr.cffrimley@nhs.net
Jo worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Team at King’s College Hospital, London, for a year before joining Frimley Park Hospital in 2011 as a specialist adult CF physiotherapist. Jo leads on the outpatient CF service and has an interest in sinus management and inhaled therapies.
Lisa started working at Frimley Park Hospital in 2011 and since 2015 has specialised in adult CF physiotherapy. Lisa leads on the inpatient CF service and has an interest in oxygen and Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV).
Ann has worked as a specialist CF physiotherapist at Frimley Park Hospital since 2014 and has previous experience in CF care at Royal Brompton Hospital as a research physiotherapist. Ann leads on the development of the exercise service and home visits and has an interest in pregnancy care, research, and service improvement.
The CF specialist physiotherapists cover outpatient, inpatient and home care and are supported by a rotational physiotherapist who undergoes training and regular supervision from the CF specialist physiotherapists.
“Physiotherapy is an integral part of CF care. We can provide advice and treatment programmes for airway clearance, sinuses, posture, joint problems, continence, antenatal CF care, oxygen, NIV, and nebulised and inhaled medications.
We believe that the patient is central to their care and like to support you with managing your condition. To do this we have set up a home monitoring service and we will ensure that we involve you in decisions on your treatment, considering your lifestyle and preferences.
We keep abreast of new research and are all members of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Cystic Fibrosis and attend their annual meetings as well as other relevant courses and conferences.”
Hrvoje “Heff” Bozic – Exercise Practitioner – 0300 613 2636 / fph-tr.cffrimley@nhs.net
Heff has been in the CF Unit since 2017 where he has built up a service to support exercise of patients within the CF Unit. Since joining, Heff has worked to encourage and support patients with their exercise routines. He now runs virtual classes, 1:1 sessions and offers advice and support in annual reviews and clinics. Heff also carries out gym visits to help patients feel more supported and motivated, and to continue going to and progressing in the gym.
Before joining the CF team, Heff has worked in numerous gym environments and participated and competed in a high standard of athletics. Heff is a coach for athletics and enjoys regularly playing tennis. He is a qualified Pilates teacher and has qualifications in instructing spinning, Bootcamp, Kettlebells and Viper.
“Physical activity is considered to have an important role in maintaining health of patients with cystic fibrosis.”
Adult CF pharmacist
Annant Damani – Cystic fibrosis pharmacist
Annant completed his training at Bath and London to become qualified as a pharmacist in 2009, before joining Frimley Park Hospital. He has worked in a number of specialties but is now the full-time, dedicated pharmacist for the cystic fibrosis unit.
“Pharmaceutical care has an important role in treating cystic fibrosis. Knowing how different medicines work and interact helps our patients get the best from their treatments. Pharmacists provide support to both medical professionals and patients on the safe and effective use of medicines. I am based on the cystic fibrosis unit and ensure medications are safe and appropriate for each of our patients. I also provide support on the supply, prescribing, storage and disposal of medicines.”
"I take part in the annual reviews to answer questions about patients' medicines and provide advice on their use. I can be contacted for advice through the CFU and can access resources to help with more complicated queries.”
Lead for quality improvement
Josie Cunningham
Josie completed her training as a pharmacist at University of Reading in 2014 and joined Frimley Park Hospital the same year. She specialised in respiratory medicine in 2017 and joined the CF team in 2019 to lead on improving the quality of care provided by the CF Unit.
“At Frimley Health, our Trust Values focus on being committed to excellence, working together and facing the future. As a CF team, we incorporate all of these into our daily practice and take pride in the quality of care we provide to our patients. We strive to continuously improve our service by following the latest evidence-based practice and involve our patients in service development processes.”
Adult CF clinical psychologist
Dr Serif Omer
Serif joined the CFU in January 2021, having previously worked within stroke and cardiac services at Frimley. He spends 2.5 days a week at the CFU. He is a member of the UK Psychosocial Professions in CF Group (UKPPCF).
Clinical Psychologists work alongside other professionals in the team to support individuals with the emotional and psychological aspects of living with cystic fibrosis. This includes supporting people to cope with changes to their health, to engage with treatments and lifestyle changes, and to maximise their emotional wellbeing and quality of life. Even if your concerns seem unrelated to cystic fibrosis, we can often signpost you to other helpful services. Just let the team know if you have any concerns or would like to speak with a Clinical Psychologist.
CFU ward nurses
Sweety Diaz, Cathy Agudo, Conchita Santiago-Alhambra, Dan Cadiz, Shelly Haddadin, Rossel Baui
Our ward sister is Sweety Diaz. She has worked at the CF Unit since it was opened in 2002. As ward sister, Sweety works both in the inpatient and outpatient settings and helps to support the CF specialist nurses.
All the CF Unit Nurses have completed the week-long CF course or will attend it after 1 year of working on the CF Unit.
“As the nursing team, we are committed to working together with the multi-disciplinary team to provide high standards of care in every aspect of your hospital stay within a comfortable and friendly environment.”
CFU care assistants
Yam Gurung, Donalyn Oabeluy, Bilkis Alhassan, Hema Gurung, Gautam Gurung, Alma Sabio, Radha Gurung
In the outpatient setting, the care assistants support the multidisciplinary team to ensure clinics run smoothly.
“As care assistants, we have a very varied role. We work closely with the nursing staff to assist our patients with their daily needs, take patients’ observations and provide the best care possible throughout their inpatient stays. We also provide patients with their supplements and assist to prepare snacks and hot and cold drinks to ensure that our patients stay well-nourished and hydrated.”
CFU database co-ordinators
Carole Colin (Tuesday, Wednesday)
Melody Garfoot (Monday, Thursday, Friday)
Carole has worked within the NHS since 1999 and she joined the CF team in 2014. Melody has worked within the NHS since 2004 and started in HR, she joined the CF team in 2019. Both Carole and Melody work together as database co-ordinators for the CF Unit.
“As database co-ordinators, our main role is to ensure that all data collected from annual reviews is accurately entered onto the CF Trust’s database. This data input is very important as the information provided to the CF Trust is used to monitor and audit CF care, as well as for research and development purposes to improve treatments and therapies.”
CF- related diabetes team
Dr Yohan Samarasinghe has worked at Frimley Park Hospital since 2009. His primary role is a consultant in acute medicine seeing medically unwell patients who are referred through the emergency department or via their GP.
He is also a specialist in diabetes and clinical pharmacology with clinics at Frimley in those specialties. He received his CF diabetes training at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, while he was a registrar at the Chelsea and Westminster, but got invaluable training as a junior doctor in the CF team at Frimley in the 1990s.
Claire Henke – Lead diabetes specialist nurse
Claire has been working at Frimley Park Hospital since 1999 and has always had an interest in diabetes. She became a diabetes specialist nurse in 2005.
Lisbeth has been a Diabetes Nurse since November 2014 and started working at Frimley Park Hospital in March 2019. She started working with the CF team at the beginning of 2021.
“Diabetes is one of the medical conditions that is caused by CF. It is very much entwined with CF. It can worsen the outcome in CF if not controlled, because the high sugar environment can encourage the growth of bacteria, particularly in the warm moist tissues of the lungs. However, if the diabetes control is optimised with insulin, this drug in particular can be used in an anabolic fashion to increase muscle growth (with appropriate training) and encourage weight gain, which has obvious benefits in CF.
"In the diabetes team we look at the individual and attempt to give you the appropriate therapy to control your diabetes and suit your lifestyle. We aim to optimise your blood sugars with your help, monitsor you for complications, while preventing future vascular complications (heart attacks and strokes) that may occur after many years if the control is not good. We will try to see you in three, six or 12 months depending on your control, and of course will come and see you on the ward if you are admitted.