News in brief

Vascular clinic at St John’s Therapy Centre

Since 25th October St George’s Healthcare has been running a weekly vascular clinic at St John’s Therapy Centre.

Referrals for this service will be received and booked in the same way as St George’s Healthcare clinics, via Central Booking/Call Centre and Choose and Book.

Choose and book has been duplicated for the trust’s St John’s clinics with the new location added.

Follow-up appointments can be booked via St John’s reception staff or the existing Vascular/Urology table.

The clinic runs from 0900 to 1045 and consists of 16 slots:

5 non-vein new slots
4 veins new slots
7 follow-up slots

Service name Service ID Service location

Vascular Surgery at St John's- Hyperhidrosis Clinic- St George's Healthcare NHS Trust - RJ7 5303216 St John’s Therapy centre

Vascular Surgery at St John's -Varicose Vein -St George's Healthcare NHS Trust - RJ7 5303215 St John’s Therapy centre

Vascular Surgery at St John's - NON Varicose Veins Only - St George's Healthcare NHS Trust - RJ7 5303218 St John’s Therapy centre

Service name	Service ID	Service location
Vascular Surgery at St John's- Hyperhidrosis Clinic- St George's Healthcare NHS Trust - RJ7	5303216	St John’s Therapy centre
Vascular Surgery at St John's -Varicose Vein -St George's Healthcare NHS Trust - RJ7	5303215	St John’s Therapy centre
Vascular Surgery at St John's - NON Varicose Veins Only - St George's Healthcare NHS Trust - RJ7	5303218	St John’s Therapy centre

St George’s Healthcare vascular surgeons are more than happy to visit GP practices in order to explain their service further. Please contact Dominic Dickinson, GP liaison manager, to organise a visit.

For St John’s Therapy Centre address and contact details, please visit: www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/aboutstjohns.asp

Rapid Access Outpatient Clinic pilot

On Monday 6th December St George’s Healthcare started trialling a consultant-led Rapid Access Outpatient Clinic for acute patients.

The purpose of the pilot clinic is to ensure that patients who can be discharged with a follow-up appointment within 48 hours are not delayed in their discharge.

The clinic will also act as an admission avoidance clinic for patients who are very unwell but do not require admission.

The clinic is held Monday to Friday mornings.

To make a referral please contact the hospital GP line on 020 8682 0923 and ask for the acute medical nurse practitioner or the on-call medical registrar.

GPs planning on sending their patient to either the Rapid Assessment Area or to A&E but instead feel that they might be suitable for a consultant clinic within a given agreed timeframe, please make a referral.

View examples of patient cases that would be best seen by this clinic

Pathology user survey

Do you use the pathology services at St George's Healthcare? Your views and comments are very important, so please help us assess user satisfaction by completing the pathology user survey online by the 14th January 2011.

The survey should only take 10 minutes to complete and will help us to identify areas for service improvement and also to feedback to Pathology staff regarding areas of good practice / service.

Findings from pathology user survey will be made available in early 2011.

visit the pathology user survey

Overseas patients

Overseas patients are eligible for emergency care, but the cost of ongoing treatment should be reclaimed from their country of origin, insurance company or from the patient directly. The only non-chargeable services are treatment provided in the emergency department, infectious diseases/public health concerns and sexual health screening.

GPs can assist the trust by identifying patients on referrals as overseas so they can be investigated appropriately. By ensuring that all patients have been resident in the UK for more than 12 months it will highlight patients that need further investigation and enable us to work through the guidance to ensure funding is appropriately sourced.

Overseas patients referred for emergency treatment should bring proof of their nationality, residency and appropriate cards (e.g. EHIC). For planned care both the permanent (overseas address) and temporary address (UK address) should be included on the referral. Planned care cannot be scheduled until advance payment from the patient or agreement from their country of origin is acquired.

Any overseas patient can be registered at a practice, receive an NHS number and free primary care, but they are not automatically eligible for services in secondary care.

For further advice or support contact the trust’s overseas officers on 0208 725 3439 or 4603 or visit the Department of Health DH website.

Pioneering Professor meets young cochlear patients

Children from across southwest London and Surrey who have had their lives transformed by a cochlear implant got the chance to meet the device’s inventor Professor Graeme Clark at St George’s Hospital in November.

Professor Clark met several children and their families, including seven year old Amie Lundberg, the first patient to have the implant at St George’s, and her brother Jack, who had his second cochlear implant earlier this year, to find out how their lives have been changed since their operations.

Professor Clark was in London to deliver the Lister Oration at the Royal College of Surgeons, one of the most prestigious awards available in surgery. He visited St George’s Hospital to open a two-day cochlear implant course for surgeons from across the UK and Europe.

Plans to build Children and Women’s hospital take shape

An exciting new redevelopment of Lanesborough Wing has been approved, in principle, by the trust board. The redevelopment would create a modern, fit-for-purpose children’s and women’s hospital.

The proposals will enhance the healing environment and experience for patients, families and carers. The changes will improve the existing facilities by providing same sex accommodation and increase the number of single rooms, space around beds and the number of en-suite bathroom facilities.

The next stage will be to develop a full business case for the first phase of the refurbishment which will take place on the fifth floor, Lanesborough Wing and create the new children’s wards.

The trust will be working with St George’s Hospital Charity to provide a charitable contribution to this project.

Celebrating 30 years in Tooting

November was a month of celebration as the trust and university marked the 30th anniversary of St George’s move to Tooting and an official opening by the Queen.

Although the history of St George’s stretches back over 270 years, the last three decades have seen both the trust and university become very much part of the fabric of life in southwest London.

Anticoagulation update - March 2011

St George’s Healthcare is holding a one-day update for all those providing or in the process of setting up a primary care anticoagulation service.

The morning involves a series of talks from experts on important issues in the delivery of primary care anticoagulation with an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the session. In the afternoon there will be an opportunity to choose from a number of workshops.

The course is taking place on 16th March 2011 at St George’s Hospital and the cost is £100 per delegate. Lunch and refreshments are included. CME applied for.

Download a copy of the programme

For further information, please contact Maria Ana Yu, anticoagulation nurse, or Muriel Shannon, anticoagulation consultant, on 020 8725 0774.