Anthony Shanahan

Fundraising & Communications
Urology Care Practitioner
Cwm Taf Morgannwg, University Health Board, Wales

The variety of patients I see and support I provide makes excellent job satisfaction for me and keeps my passion for urology burning fiercely

Anthony Shanahan, Urology Care Practitioner, Cwm Taf Morgannwg, University Health Board, Wales

Why I value my time as a trustee

Becoming a trustee was never at the forefront of my thoughts, until I personally met some of the trustees in person, during annual conferences. Chatting and hearing about their personal experiences, the unseen roles within BAUN and the opportunities available definitely peaked my interest and was very appealing for my personal and professional development. Commitment was always going to be my concern, balancing a young family life, full time work and volunteering for an enormous organisation such as BAUN. I therefore plucked up the courage and put myself forward for election as a trustee in 2022 and thankfully have never looked back or regretted in doing so.

Being within BAUN as a member, always made me appreciate that I was not alone and there is a network of colleagues for support and information within the different specialised areas of urology, however, since becoming a trustee member, the importance of team building, along with first-hand experience within the BAUN trustee team, has developed personal attributes, that I thought I was good at, has been elevated higher than I thought possible.

Over my couple of years as a trustee within BAUN, I have learned so much about the workings of a professional organisation and what roles are required to manage and support a national professional organisation. Most members would think that BAUN was all about education, but there are so many roles available as a trustee, such as fundraising, social media, recruitment, website, newsletter editor, education, conference, secretary, treasurer, president and vice president, the list is extensive, enjoyable and fully supportive.

Working with supportive and fantastic colleagues from all over the UK, has been thoroughly enjoyable. Working together to overcome the recent challenges following COVID and steering the association from strength to strength has been difficult at times, but very rewarding and am proud to be a trustee of this magnificent organisation.

Why I have a passion for urology

Once qualified, I was a theatre scrub practitioner and had basic surgical experience of all the specialities. Urology was never one of the fancy specialities that most theatre staff enjoyed. I presume this may be due to the bottles of irrigation utilised, the numerous changes of suction canisters, the stubborn kidney stones with the old lithotripter, but that may have just been me.

Urology started to get interesting, when we had an andrology surgeon who was newly appointed. With surgeries such as Nesbitt’s procedure, insertion of penile implants and penile preserving operations for penile cancer, urology started to get very more attractive and enjoyable.

With my new shown interest in urology, I was approached and encouraged to apply and become a Surgical Care Practitioner in Urology, which trained me to cover and support in any of the three hospital environments (Theatre, Wards and Outpatients), that urology provided care for their patients. Since then I have been trained in core urology but have also been given specialised training in andrology, men’s health, men’s cancer (penile, testicular and prostate), diagnostic urology and minor surgical procedures.

The variety of patients I see and support I provide makes excellent job satisfaction for me and keeps my passion for urology burning fiercely.

Biography

Anthony is a qualified Urology Surgical Care Practitioner (SCP), with over 15 years experience within a hospital surgical environment within the NHS in Wales. Anthony  undertakes a variety of roles, within the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative phases of the urology surgical patients. He  works as part of a multi-disciplinary team, but also works on his own initiative to enhance and support the urology team, whilst ensuring that at all times patient care procedures and practices are adhered to.

Anthony hopes to  support and enhance the committee with experiences and knowledge within a vast list of urology fields, such as Pre-assessments, Haematuria, Flexible cystoscopies, LUTS, ED, PSA and stones clinics. He has helped set up departmental protocols and policies enhancing the pathways for urology patients.His  specialised areas consist Theatres, Benign Penile conditions/ Andrology and Penile cancer.  He is a member of the South Wales supra-network MDT team treating patients with buried penis’s, peyrone’s disease and fertility. He is  also a Penile Cancer keyworker, providing support to all patients in South East Wales through their penile cancer diagnosis, treatment and surveillance.

Anthony suggests that a new supportive dimension that could be brought to the committee, would be theatre and theatre skills. Although  a fully trained first assistant, he is also competent at minor operation surgery, where he  performs procedures such as circumcisions, hydroceles and penile biopsies. If there were an increased number of SCP’s, his knowledge with training could help support the committee into training and knowledge based evidence for future urology SCP’s.