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Hope skin specialists voted No 1

23/12/2002

Skin specialists at Hope Hospital have been voted the best in the country.

Hope's head of dermatology Professor Chris Griffiths and his team have won the coveted Hospital Doctor of the Year Award for their work on the incurable but non-contagious skin disease, psoriasis.

For eight years Prof Griffiths and his colleague Dr Robert Chalmers have pioneered a revolutionary approach to the treatment of the disease, which causes itchy, bleeding sores in sufferers.

Most sufferers of the disease can be treated in the community, but in some cases people require specialist care and even hospital treatment.

At Hope, Prof Griffiths has set up a clinic which combines the best new treatment techniques with the latest drugs, thorough support and education for sufferers from specialist nurses and the support of psychologist Dr Helen Richards - because sufferers are often under a lot of stress and can feel socially excluded.

Salford psoriasis sufferer Pat Bowker explained: "Psoriasis has really knocked my confidence and you tend to cover up and hide away because people think it's contagious.

"People don't realise that as well as being painful and unsightly, psoriasis can really limit people's lives and have serious emotional effects."

Prof Griffiths' team beat off stiff competition from a team in Birmingham who had set up a dermatology clinic and one in Nottingham who had introduced multi-disciplinary working throughout the department to win the award.

He said: "I think the main thing is that it highlights the need for a multi-disciplinary approach for the management of an incurable disease like psoriasis.

"We are pleased for ourselves, but it's particularly important for the patients.

"I think it is very innovative. When we set up in 1994 it was probably new world wide. Since then other people have set up multi-disciplinary dermatology services but no-one else has the fully integrated service we do."

He added: "I think psoriasis is often overlooked because it is rarely fatal, but people's lives are ruined by having this disease."

Approximately two per cent of the population suffer from psoriasis, with 75 per cent of sufferers in Greater Manchester going untreated.

Prof Griffiths is now backing a Salford Psoriasis Campaign to raise local awareness of the disease and encourage people to seek treatment.

Hope Hospital is a centre of excellence for dermatology - which includes the treatment of all skin diseases including skin cancers.

All 23 consultant dermatologists in Greater Manchester are based there, making it the UK's biggest centre for treating skin diseases.