GIRFT has welcomed two new clinical leads for urology to continue our ongoing work in supporting trusts and systems to reduce variation and improve patient care.
Suzie Venn (consultant urological surgeon at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust) and Ben Ayres (consultant urological surgeon at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) will work as joint GIRFT clinical leads, taking over from John McGrath and Kieran O’Flynn, who stepped down from the roles in March.
Suzie’s specialist clinical interests include female urology, urinary continence and complex urological reconstruction. She is currently deputy chief medical officer at her trust with responsibility for quality and safety, and is a former regional advisor for urology for NHS England South East region. She has held several roles with the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) and was awarded the BAUS John Anderson medal in 2024 for services to urology.
She said:
“I am a strong believer in the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme, and I look forward to working with Ben and all our colleagues to use the programme’s core principles and methodology to improve the urological care of our patients.”
As well as being a consultant urological surgeon, Ben is also an Honorary Reader in urology at City St George’s University of London and the academic lead for surgery and the final year at City St George’s medical school.
His subspecialist interests include penile cancer, bladder cancer and medical education. Ben is deputy chief medical officer at his trust, with responsibility for clinical effectiveness and audit and was, until recently, clinical director for urology for NHS London.
He said:
“I am really excited to be appointed to this role and I look forward to working with Suzie, the team at GIRFT and the wider urological community to build on the many successful initiatives that Simon, Kieran and John delivered. We will continue to drive innovation and share best practice for patient care across all of urology.”
GIRFT has been working in the urology specialty since 2015, when a national review of services was led by Simon Harrison, resulting in the 2018 national report for urology.
John McGrath and Kieran O’Flynn became joint clinical leads in 2020, undertaking revisits to trusts, presenting refreshed urology data and looking at the progress of recommendations from the 2018 national report. They have now left the role, although John is continuing as chair of the robotic-assisted surgery steering committee for NHS England and GIRFT and as one of GIRFT’s co-investigators for sustainable care pathway development.
Suzie and Ben will pick up the close working with other NHS England programmes, providers and professional bodies – in particular the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) and the British Association of Urological Nurses (BAUN) – to further develop resources designed to support trusts and systems to reduce variation and improve patient care.
Professor Tim Briggs, GIRFT programme lead and National Director for Clinical Improvement, Elective Recovery and UEC for NHS England, said:
“Urology is one of the core surgical specialties for GIRFT, so I am delighted to have two such experienced clinical leaders on board to build on the important work begun their predecessors.
“Our focus must continue to be on improving the service for patients, for our colleagues and for the NHS more broadly, and I am confident that Suzie and Ben will be instrumental in achieving positive change.”
