J Pouch or Stoma? A life changing decision

Featuring Janindra Warusavitarne, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at St. Mark’s Hospital, London, who is one of the most experienced surgeons currently performing J pouch also known as IPAA (lieal-pouch anal anastomosis) surgery.

In this session Janindra addresses many issues and concerns raised by an audience comprising of people with both old and new pouches, and indeed some still in the process of deciding if a J pouch is the right course of action for themselves.

Whether you are considering a J pouch or have many years of experience of living with a pouch, this session will have something for you.

Recorded on 13 August 2025 on behalf of the Red Lion Group, Registered charity, (c) Red Lion Group. All rights reserved.

Guy Worley -Ileoanal pouch surgery alternatives, techniques and trends

Former St Mark’s Hospital (The UK National Bowel Hospital) research fellow Guy Worley looks at the pros and cons of opting to have ilieoanal pouch surgery. Is it the answer for UC sufferers and what are the alternatives? He also reviews the latest technical changes in pouch surgery. Finally, he asks if patients are properly informed to give their consent to operations? Guy is now a consultant IBD surgeon at The Royal London Hospital.

Warning – this video contains about 3 minutes of graphic images of robotic pouch surgery as indicated on time line below. There is also a warning in the video if you prefer to bypass this content.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:21 Guy Worley
00:22:53 Robotic Surgery (graphic surgery images)
00:25:05 End of graphic robotic surgery
00:37:46 Q&A

Clemmie Oliver – Nutritional advice for pouch patients

A unique opportunity to hear from a specialist IDB nutritionist who can speak from both personal experience as well as clinical experience.
Specialist IBD Nutritionist Clemmie Oliver looks at how diet and lifestyle can support recovery from pouch surgery and how it is pivotal to our ongoing health with a pouch. Clemmie who had UC aged 9 and has an ileo-pouch herself founded and runs The Nutrition and Lifestyle Medical Clinic (NALM). She is a passionate advocate of helping pouchees cope with food issues and nutrition needs. This webcast took place on behalf of the Red Lion Group on 23 July 2025 to a large audience on zoom and live streamed on YouTube. Clemmie’s talk was followed by a Q&A session in which she addressed many issues relevant to pouchees (and ostomates).

If you wish to contact Clemmi Oliver or the Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine Clinic (NALM) you can find contact details below.

Clemmie Oliver (née Macpherson)
Registered Associate Nutritionist (MSc, ANutr)
Registered Nutritional Therapist (Dip ION, mBANT, CNHC)

Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine Clinic Ltd.
W: www.nalmclinic.com
E: clemmie@nalmclinic.com
T: +447729042218

Ben Barbanel – Back to peak fitness after J…

Featuring Ben Barbanel who is a member of the Red Lion Group and owner of a J Pouch. Ben recently embarked on a fitness program and speaks about his journey to return to peak fitness at the “grand old age of 45”! Ben is a regular contributor to Red Lion Social channels and last year was invited by Janindra Warusavitarne to speak at a European Colorectal Surgery Conference in Prague. He also Co-presented with Janindra on a Red Lion Group webcast on the “Patient / Surgeon Relationship”. Apart from the fitness content, the conversation and follow up Q&A covered in this session covers many topics relevant to Pouch Patients.

Uchu Meade & Gabriela Poufou – Pharmacy and dietary…

Pharmacy & Dietary advice for J Pouch patients, Q& A featuring Uchu Meade, Consultant pharmacist, and Gabriela Poufou, Advanced Specialist Inflammatory Bowel Disease Dietitian – both at St. Mark’s Hospital, London (the UK National Bowel Hospital).

Both have previously presented at Red Lion Group Information days and zoom webcasts and you can find recordings on our YouTube channel

For the first time, this session featured the two of them together and the format of the whole session was in the form of an interactive Question & Answer, on two of the most interesting subjects for people with an internal pouch (J Pouch or similar) and that is on the topics of DIETARY and MEDICATION advice for J pouch patients.

In April 2023, Uchu Meade achieved a significant milestone in her career by becoming the first consultant level pharmacist at St Mark’s Hospital. She has presented for RLG previously on the subject “Pharmacy advice for Pouch Patients“. Also taking part was Gabriela Poufou. Gabriela is an Advanced Specialist Inflammatory Bowel Disease Dietitian at St. Mark’s. Her webcast “Healthy eating for Patients with a J Pouch” is one of the most viewed recordings on our YouTube channel.

Attendees were invited to submit questions in advance and also during the session.

After watching this recording, it would be much appreciated if you could submit your feedback at https://forms.office.com/e/a4A1nVT44V.  Survey results will support Uchu and Gabriela’s personal professional development and that interaction with patient groups such as pouchees is a very important part of their professional  evaluation.

Janindra Warusavitarne – Surgeon/Patient – a special relationship

This webcast took place on Wednesday 10th July at 7:30 pm (BST) and featured Janindra Warusavitarne, the renowned St. Mark’s colorectal surgeon. Janindra is one of our most popular speakers and many of you will know him personally, or may have seen him on a previous webcast – speaking about advances in pouch surgery. On this occasion, the focus was on the importance of the surgeon/patient relationship.

Also taking part was Ben Barbanel, a Red Lion Group member, who was fortunate to have had his pouch constructed by Janindra about 5 years ago. Ben was honoured to have been invited to speak at the annual conference of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESC) in September 2023 on the subject “What do the public expect from surgeons”?

Janindra commented “The concept of shared decision making is vital to ensure that in these challenging times we as clinicians hear what patients have to say and how the services we provide can ensure that their quality of life is also improved, particularly in the context of chronic diseases“

Sonia Frearson – Preparing for Surgery at St. Mark’s

Psychological preparation for Surgery at St. Mark’s Hospital featuring Dr Sonia Frearson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and head of the St Mark’s Psychological Medicine Unit (PMU).

Recorded on behalf of the Red Lion Group (pouchsupport.org) on 21 June 2024.

Ellie Bradshaw – Biofeedback management for J pouch

Presented by Ellie Bradshaw – Pouch and Stoma Care Nurse at St Mark’s Hospital London.

Recorded on 29 May 2024 on behalf of the Red Lion Group.

The latest webcast in the RLG 2024 series took place on 29 May with Ellie Bradshaw talking about Biofeedback, a unique method of pouch emptying. Over fifty pouchees attended the event from the comfort of their own homes via zoom. Ellie is a highly experienced nursing specialist who used to be in charge of the Biofeedback unit at St Marks Hospital. She took a sabbatical to work at the Princess Grace Hospital in London and has now returned to St Marks to join the highly experienced and award winning pouch nurse specialist team. Her presence will add considerable capabilities and expertise to a team which is already world class. Ellie’s passion for helping pouchees was evident as she carefully walked us through the various ways in which pouchees can act and exercises they can do to improve and preserve their pouch function through control and strengthening of their pelvic floor. As well, she provided information on creams and medical devices which are available to pouchees and which can help to alleviate some of the common pouch issues, from which many of us suffer to a greater or lesser extent. In a lively and extended Q&A session Ellie was able to answer both broad and very personal pouch-related topics as diverse as sex for pouchees, night time incontinence, butt creams, stool thickeners, anus and lower back pain, how to achieve full emptying, probiotics, pelvic floor exercises and investigations when the pouch is not functioning well. The recording of the event is available on our You Tube channel – add link This was a compassionate and comprehensive talk packed full of practical tips and suggestions and some humour along the way to emphasise the messages. Another brilliant event from Ellie, who is a long-term supporter of the RLG charity, having been delivering talks for us since 2006. We are indeed grateful for all her support and delighted to have her back at St Marks. Thank you to all the attendees for such a great series of questions.

David Davies – RLG chairman

Prof John Nicholls – 40 years of colorectal surgery

We are delighted to announce that we will be kicking off our webcast season for 2024 with a talk from Professor John Nicholls, considered to be the the father of the ileo anal pouch (J Pouch). The Red Lion Group will be repeating its popular webcast series in 2024, providing an opportunity for J Pouch patients to see and hear from the foremost experts in the field of J-pouch surgery and the challenges of living with a J-pouch. As in previous years, each talk will be followed by an interactive Q&A so a chance to put your questions to the experts. The first event this year will be on Tuesday 16th April at 7:30 pm (BST) and will feature the eminent colorectal surgeon Professor John Nicholls, who will need no introduction to many of you. Not only was he the co-inventor, with SIr Alan Parks, of the procedure for ileal-pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA), but he has been responsible for the creation of more pouches than anyone on the planet earning him the sobriquet “the pouch king“. Professor John Nicholls is a retired British colorectal surgeon, Emeritus Consultant Surgeon at St Mark’s Hospital London and Professor of Colorectal Surgery at Imperial College London. He is also a Patron of the Red Lion Group.