Hepatobiliary and pancreatic (HPB)

What we do

We provide all-round care for people with liver, pancreatic, biliary and gallbladder disorders, both malignant and benign conditions.
Three different teams are involved in the care of our patients:

  • HCC – for hepatocellular carcinomas (primary liver cancer)
  • NET – for neuroendocrine tumours (rare pancreatic and small bowel cancer)
  • HPB – for all other malignant and benign conditions of the liver, pancreas, bile ducts and gallbladder

King's HPB services

King’s HPB unit is the biggest one of its kind in Europe.

We perform around 1,000 major HPB surgeries per year and 10 to 12 cancer surgeries per week. We receive 50 new referrals per week and discuss 100 patients per week in our oncology HPB multidisciplinary meeting (MDM).

Patients are referred from south east London and England NHS Trusts for specialist opinion or surgical treatment. We also regularly receive international referrals or request for second opinions.

Our multidisciplinary team includes:

  • HPB surgeons
  • physician specialists in NET and HCC
  • medical oncologists
  • liver radiologists
  • liver pathologists
  • HPB senior clinical fellows and registrars
  • clinical nurse specialists
  • advanced nurse practitioners
  • MDM coordinators
  • liver admissions admins
  • liver secretaries
  • Macmillan support workers
  • ward, theatres, outpatient nursing and admin staff

King's HPB Wards

King's HPB patients are treated within Dawson Ward, Howard Ward, Todd Ward and our Liver Intensive Therapy Unit.

Preparing for your appointment

You do not need to prepare for most outpatient appointments, but please contact us beforehand to check if there are any specific requirements for your appointment. We offer both face to face and telephone appointments, but in certain cases, we will insist we need to meet you (to assess you prior to surgery, or review you after you have had your operation).

You are welcome to bring a list of your current medication to the first appointment.

Who to contact

All contact details can be found below.

For general queries, contact the Liver/HPB secretaries.

If you are a cancer patient, you will meet your key worker or Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). They will tell you how and when you can contact them.

For clinical issues and questions related to symptoms, surgery, procedures, and treatments contact the relevant CNS team using the details below.

If you have practical queries or want further information about support groups, contact the Macmillan Centre at King’s.

If you need to change your appointment or ask details about an upcoming outpatient appointment, please contact Liver Clinic outpatients.

Pancreatic Cancer UK leaflets

The patient information below, created by Pancreatic Cancer UK, provides further information:

External resources

Location

Suite 9, Third Floor, Golden Jubilee Wing, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS

Contact Details

Patient Information Leaflets

Conditions we treat

Malignant conditions (cancers):

  • primary liver cancer: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma
  • secondary liver tumours (liver metastases) from a primary cancer (bowel, breast, pancreas, skin, etc.)
  • gallbladder cancer
  • pancreatic cancer
  • neuroendocrine tumours (NET)

Benign conditions:

  • benign liver tumours: focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), adenoma, haemangioma
  • benign liver cysts: simple cysts, hydatid cysts, polycystic liver disease
  • benign biliary conditions: biliary cystadenoma, choledochal anomalies
  • benign pancreatic cysts:
    • intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN)
    • serous cystic tumour or neoplasm (SCT or SCN)
    • solid pseudo-papillary tumour (SPT or SPPT)
    • mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN)
  • chronic and acute pancreatitis
  • any complex benign hepatobiliary and pancreatic conditions

Tests and investigations
Most HPB conditions, especially cancerous ones, will require a number of blood tests, scans and investigations so we can make sure we have all the information we need to make the right diagnosis and offer you the best care. You will have most of these at King's and they include:

  • blood tests
  • biopsy such as fine needle aspiration (FNA) with radiological (ultrasound or CT) or endoscopic guidance
  • CT scan
  • MRI scan
  • PET-CT scan
  • endoscopy including an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), percutaneous trans-hepatic cholangiography (PTC), upper or lower endoscopy; video-capsule endoscopy (enteroscopy) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)

Treatments
Our HPB service is mainly a surgical one. HPB, HCC and NET also work closely with oncologists for all malignant conditions. The range of treatments we provide includes:

  • surgery:
    • liver, pancreatic and biliary resection including (non-exhaustive):
      • Whipple procedure
      • total pancreatectomy
      • distal pancreatectomy +/- splenectomy
      • standard and extended left and right hepatectomy
      • segmentectomy or wedge or non-anatomical liver resection
      • biliary exploration and reconstruction
      • cysts fenestration
      • cholecystectomy
      • total pancreatectomy and auto-islets transplantation (TPAIT)
    • some minor surgeries can be done laparoscopically (keyhole) but most major procedures will have to be open procedures
  • specialist interventional radiology:
    • percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) of primary and secondary liver tumours
    • percutaneous chemo-embolisation (TACE, DEBIRI) for primary and secondary liver tumours
    • irreversible electroporation (IRE or 'Nanoknife') for pancreatic and liver tumours
    • selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) for primary or secondary liver tumours
  • oncology:
  • palliative care

Our cancer web pages have more information about the cancer care provided at King's.

Booking a patient at King's

Routine Referrals

Cancer referrals

Multidisciplinary meeting (MDM) referrals
Please complete the relevant form below and send it to kch-tr.hpbreferrals@nhs.net and the respective CNS team.

HPB MDT Coordinator: 020 3299 5737 and 020 3299 5989
HCC MDT Coordinator: 020 3299 1561
NET MDT Coordinator: 020 3299 3903

General queries: kch-tr.hpbqueries@nhs.net
We will not discuss benign referrals on MDMs unless approved by HPB consultants. Please address benign referrals to HPB consultants directly.

Benign referrals
Routine
Benign referrals should be sent along with referral letter to HPB consultants directly.
GPs should use NHS e-referral (e-RS) where possible to book in one of the HPB clinics. We do not accept referrals for upper GI, general surgery or general hepatology, and we will reject those referrals.

Emergency
For urgent referrals by local teams, discuss the case with the HPB doctor on-call by calling King's main switchboard on 020 3299 9000 and bleep 258. Alternatively, email kch-tr.hpb@nhs.net.

Referral Forms

Please complete the relevant form and note any pre-consultation investigations required:

Key Clinical Staff

Name Job Title
Mr Simon Atkinson Consultant Pancreatic Surgeon
Miss Ophelia Brown Clinical Nurse Specialist
Mrs Elmie Cananea Clinical Nurse Specialist
Miss Pamella Lee ERAS Specialist Nurse
Mrs Wendy Martin Lead CNS for Neuroendocrine Tumours
Mr Krishna Menon Consultant, Liver Transplant and HPB
Mr Suresh Menon HPB Oncology CNS
Prof Ameet Patel Consultant Surgeon
Ms Juliette Ribaud Clinical Nurse Specialist
Dr Paul Ross Consultant Medical Oncologist (colorectal/HBP)
Miss Jennifer Rowntree Lead Nurse HPB Oncology
Dr Debashis Sarker Consultant and Reader in Medical Oncology
Ms Hiba Shanti senior clinical fellow
Mr Parthi Srinivasan Consultant Liver and Pancreatic Surgeon
Dr Raj Srirajaskanthan Consultant in Gastroenterology and Neuroendocrine Tumours
Dr Raj Srirajaskanthan Clinical lead for Neuroendocrine Tumour Service
Mr Muhammad Younis SCF

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