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Mr B Roy Chaudhary 2023-02-13 Person 5 5 0

Mr Chaudhary's PA kindly organised for me to be reviewed at very short notice for suspected spinal nerve root compression in my neck (cervical radiculopathy) characterised by months of severe pain in the neck/upper back/arm and a disturbing weakness of the arm. His PA, Mandy, is extremely attentive, diligent and excellent at keeping the patient informed, including reminders of appointment times and scans. Even in her emails a clear kindness, warmth and care shines through in the tone of the message which is much appreciated in the context of uncertainty about a diagnosis and potential future disability. Meeting Mr Chaudhary was a pleasure. He is a highly personable, engaging, energetic, thoughtful, methodical and decisive clinician who clearly excels at his specialist craft. He has an excellent ability to establish rapport within minutes - facilitated by his introducing himself as Roy - and takes time to carefully understand exactly what the symptoms are to inform his diagnosis. In my case this was no trivial matter as I outlined a long history of various spinal issues going back decades driven by sport. He listened to these patiently, taking time at moments during this to clarify specific points and zero in on those most pertinent to enabling progress with diagnosis and management decision making. In the busy and demanding environment that our doctors work in, this ability to listen and focus entirely on what the patient is articulating - as they attempt to summarise months to years of challenging symptoms, altered quality of life and (premature) disability - is becoming a rare art and to be treasured - Roy excels at this. It was clear at the first consultation that Mr Chaudhary would only recommend surgery if he felt this was in my best interests and if he had a high degree of confidence that neurosurgery would be able to improve my symptoms and physical function, a hallmark of a discerning consultant surgeon. He took time to explain the likely outcomes of the investigations in understandable terms and provided the right degree of information at that time, i.e. not overwhelming or speculative. As an example of his thoughtfulness and patient-centric approach, he explained the potential options around obtaining the next investigation (MRI spine), including alternative scanner locations that may be more cost-effective. He also took pains to not unnecessarily rush any decision making on my part, meaning that he provided me clear options which I could pursue and suggested I think this over and contact his PA once I had arrived at a decision. This is another hallmark of an excellent surgeon - i.e. allowing the patient sufficient time to digest the information received before they make important decisions about further investigations and, ultimately, the timing of spinal surgery, which affect both them and their families. The follow up was organised very swiftly after the neuroimaging and Roy went through my MRI spine carefully, taking time to orientate me as to the key structures such as the nerve roots on the computer images and explaining the important findings. He discussed the range of options available to me in light of the scan in very clear terms , which of these he recommended and why, including what the potential outcomes of pursuing each would be. In other words he will work with you to help you make the right decision individualised for your specific case, taking into account its unique features, complexities and uncertainties. He has a great ability to distil next steps in terms of investigations and/or treatments in very clear terms so there is no uncertainty as to what the options are or what needs to be decided. In summary, Mr Roy Chaudhary is an outstanding, caring, brilliant doctor and a highly gifted, attentive and personable neurosurgeon whom it was a pleasure to meet and be under the care of. I have had an excellent experience with Mr Chaudhary and his Team as an outpatient and would unhesitatingly recommend him to anyone who requires or thinks they may benefit from an expert neurosurgical consultation for their symptoms.