The Cleveland Clinic London, which opened in 2021, is one of a growing number of private hospitals with facilities providing intensive care and complex operations.
Doctors and therapists from various specialities work together as a team to offer the three Rs – reconstruction, recovery and rehabilitation – to patients who have suffered devastating injuries.
Consultants say the approach is unusual in London hospitals, where specialist departments – from surgery to imaging and occupational therapy – are often siloed and sometimes even in different buildings.
“Having everything in one building, I would say, is fairly unique,” said Dr Arvind Chandratheva, a consultant neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
“We've held complex case discussions with orthopaedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, intensive care unit teams, neurologists, neurosurgeons,” he told The National.
This helps to speed up treatment and support the patient better. “The ability to rapidly involve highly skilled specialists in a really timely manner makes a huge impact to patients,” he added.
One case from the Arabian Gulf, he said, involved traumatic brain injury and severe bodily injuries that required an amputation.
The patient’s neuro and orthopaedic surgeons got together to decide which surgery would be done first. “How does one approach reconstructive brain surgery while they’ve got an amputation. [We] operate as a team of specialists to try and achieve that,” he said.
The hospital expanded its services in October to include a unit for patients who have lost limbs and require amputation and prosthetics.
A draw for UK patients
UK patients facing weeks of waiting on the NHS are attracted to the private hospital's services.
Eli Lew, 35, who works in property development in London, told The National of his recovery at the Cleveland Clinic, after a skiing accident almost left him paralysed.
I refused to accept that anything was wrong with me
Eli Lew
In March last year Mr Lew landed head first on rocks while skiing in France, causing a haemorrhage to the front left of his brain.
Two British women doctors who were skiing near by witnessed the accident and rushed to help him. He was then flown to a French hospital.
“They manipulated my body so that I could get oxygen to my brain. They saved my life, they’re my guardian angels. I’m still in touch with them,” he said of the two women doctors.
His family flew over to France and were prepared for the worst as he spent 10 days in a coma. The chances of him waking up were low, and doctors feared that he would be paralysed when he did.
Mr Lew spent two weeks at the French hospital learning how to walk again after waking up from the coma – a time he does not remember well. He also found he could not move his left arm – but he eventually trained himself to use it again.
The biggest challenge would be recovering his memory and speech – which he would do back in the UK.
When he was well enough to travel back, he was transferred to the Royal London Hospital.
The contrast to the round-the-clock care he received in France was stark. “I was under constant supervision and care in France. The NHS hospital knew that I was high risk, and yet I just felt like any other person,” he said.
He spent his first night in the Accident and Emergency ward, because no beds were available in the hospital itself.
He rolled over and fell out of bed on his first night, and rang his sister for help. “I was so all over the place at the time. I thought someone had come into my room and pushed me on the floor, so I called my little sister,” he said.
The experience left him feeling discouraged about his prospect for recovery. “I could feel myself getting depressed,” he said of the three days at the hospital.
His family made the decision to send him to the private Cleveland Clinic London after learning that there would be an 11-week wait before he could continue his rehabilitation.
“Treatment within the first three months is the most critical,” Mr Lew said, whose treatment was covered by his health insurance.
Dr Chandratheva, Mr Lew’s neurologist at Cleveland Clinic, confirms the need to begin treating the patient as soon as possible.
“In all forms of neurological injury, the sooner you start stimulating the nervous system with positive rehabilitation techniques, the greater the chance of recovery,” he said.
A long road to recovery
When Mr Lew arrived at the private London hospital, he was immediately seen by Dr Chandratheva and put on a rehabilitation programme with a physiotherapist and language therapist.
The road to recovery would be long, he was told. “I refused to accept that anything was wrong with me,” he said.
“The doctor asked me to say the months of the year backwards. I just looked at him blankly. Then he said, OK, what if you count backwards from 20. I said 20, and couldn’t do anything else,” Mr Lew recalled.
Dr Chandratheva said his aim is not simply to get the patient walking or moving again, but to live a life as close to the one they had before the injury.
“You really want to get them to the level where they can go to work – they have a vision of having relationships, going out – and all the things that young people want to do,” he said.
“Eli was incredibly fit. He was well, super active, and thriving at work,” he said of Mr Lew prior to the accident.
There were more subtle injuries to the brain which, if left untreated, can affect one's ability to return to work, one's interactions with friends, and leave the patient struggling to sleep or being really irritable.
Mr Lew also had to learn how to go about performing normal day-to-day tasks, like making a cup of tea.
“Eli lacked complete insight into what his injuries were,” Dr Chandratheva said. “You reflect this to them in a way that doesn’t totally dent their confidence, showing them a pathway to recovery,” he said.
Mr Lew was determined to be well enough to deliver the speech at his best friend’s wedding, which was five months away.
He spent five weeks at the hospital, working with his therapists every day, and spending hours on the tasks and exercises assigned to him.
“I just can't explain the satisfaction you get from seeing improvement every single day. It was the best feeling in the world,” Mr Lew said.
Supporting the family
Brain and spinal cord injuries can also be caused by strokes, infections, and other disorders. Although patients in the Middle East are often able to access care for these at home, UK doctors offer sub-specialities that are not available in the region.
Another patient from the Gulf came suffering more than 90 epileptic seizures a day, with low levels of consciousness as a result.
“We've managed to drop the number of epilepsy medication she has. She's now able to sit up independently, [and suffers] not as many seizures a day,” Dr Chandratheva said.
There are plans for the patient to return home, which, “at the start would not have been possible in the family's mind”, he said.
Caring for the families was an important part of the process, Dr Chandratheva said. “Often injuries have ripples beyond the patient, and the family as well. It’s hugely traumatic [for them].”
Families must be kept informed regularly and clearly. “Continuous medical oversight give[s] continuity to the family. Because when there's so many specialities involved, there is a risk that the family just gets lost in the mix,” he said.
Cleveland Clinic London is part of an international network of hospitals under the Cleveland Clinic brand, which also has a hospital in Abu Dhabi.
When a patient returns home, they receive a summary of the care and virtual consultations to follow up on their recovery. The hospital will often speak to the patient's clinician back home and supply a copy of the summary.
The hospital offers treatments approved in the UK but not yet widely available on the NHS.
“We have used advanced lipid therapies, which are not yet regularly commonplace in day-to-day NHS practice, and we have access to the full range of multiple sclerosis treatments, without restrictions,” he said.
Living life normally again
When Mr Lew returned home, he spent his first days on the sofa, watching TV, relieved to have some time to himself again after spending more than two months in hospitals.
He was back at work within three months. “I was told to live my life as normally as possible,” he said.
As his best friend’s wedding day drew closer, Mr Lew began to draft his speech. “Obviously the first draft was terrible, I showed it to my brother,” he said.
But he was able to deliver a speech that he felt proud of.
The experience has changed his life for ever, and he has booked his next skiing trip, at the same spot where he had the accident.
“I'm really doing everything I can to go this year, because I currently hold no fear. The longer I leave it, the more of a chance [fear] will creep up on me, which I just don't want,” he said.
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Southampton 2
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh12 million
Engine 8.0-litre quad-turbo, W16
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch auto
Power 1479 @ 6,700rpm
Torque 1600Nm @ 2,000rpm 0-100kph: 2.6 seconds 0-200kph: 6.1 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
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Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
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The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
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Transmission: seven-speed auto
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1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
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Price, base / as tested Dh525,000 / Dh559,000
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Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined: 8.0L / 100km
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ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack
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