Alison DowneyClinician

Biography

Alison Downey is a Consultant Urologist at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, based at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield. She has published clinical work on functional and reconstructive urology, urinary tract infection, and neurourology in Urology News. Downey has become a prominent public voice on the harms of recreational ketamine use, warning that urology departments are being overwhelmed by young patients with severe bladder damage caused by the drug. She co-authored the 2024 British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) consensus statements on the management of ketamine uropathy, published in BJU International. She has been quoted in regional and national press coverage, and authored a piece on the Mid Yorkshire Trust website calling for a joined-up addiction and urology response to the ketamine crisis.

References

1. 1.Trust doctor warns about the dangers of Ketamine misuse | Mid Yorks — Confirms role as Consultant Urologist at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust; establishes her public advocacy on ketamine uropathy and urology capacity pressures
2. 2.British Association of Urological Surgeons Consensus statements on the management of ketamine uropathy – BJU International — Confirms authorship of 2024 BAUS consensus paper and affiliation with Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust, Wakefield
3. 3.Alison Downey contributor profile – Urology News — Confirms base at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield and published clinical articles on functional/reconstructive urology and infection
4. 4.Tragedy as 'party drug' takes another life – Yorkshire Live / Examiner Live — Press coverage confirming her as Consultant Urologist at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, quoting her on the surge in ketamine-related admissions
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Mental health

Stated areas of expertise

• Ketamine uropathy
• Functional and reconstructive urology
• Urinary tract infection
• Bladder cancer
• Recreational drug-related urological harm
• Urology workforce pressures

Notable achievements

• Co-authored the 2024 BAUS consensus statements on the management of ketamine uropathy, published in BJU International (vol. 134, issue 2, pp. 148–154) Source ↗
• Elevated to Full UK membership of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) at its June 2022 AGM, then affiliated with Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield Source ↗
• Listed as a registered surgeon on the BAUS patient-facing surgeon directory Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “We're already stretched really thin as it is and it's been a massive increase that we're just not equipped for. Although it causes urology problems, ketamine abuse is not a urology issue, it's an addiction and we can't do anything about that.”

  consultant urologist in South Yorkshire · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘Absolutely frightening’: surge in ketamine cases hits urology wards in England and Wales ↗

• “Recent data has shown a concerning rise in the class B drug's recreational use in England and Wales, with Barnsley named as a hotspot by Alison Downey, a consultant urologist in South Yorkshire.”

  consultant urologist in South Yorkshire · Mental health · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘I was peeing blood constantly’: my ketamine hell – and what made me stop ↗

Source references

1. ‘Absolutely frightening’: surge in ketamine cases hits urology wards in England and Walestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. ‘I was peeing blood constantly’: my ketamine hell – and what made me stoptheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.midyorks.nhs.uk/news/trust-doctor-warns-about-the-dangers-of-ketamine-misuse-4472/
• Press office emailmidyorks.communications@nhs.netpublished here ↗
• Press office phone01924 543637published here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.