UCLH update for GPs 5th Feb 2021
We have been working hard to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety and quality of our services for all patients. Further information is provided below.
Our outpatient clinics will be predominantly virtual:
- We are maintaining outpatient activity wherever possible, currently running at 70-80%, and optimistic that this will continue into February
- Clinicians will aim to call patients at the agreed time, but occasionally may call at a later time than stated
- Appointments for February are being prioritised and high priority patient appointments will be maintained
- Seeing patients virtually will protect wait times for urgent patients.
Please continue to refer via the NHS e-referral service:
- If there are no slots available, then refer using 'Defer to Provider'
- Some services will be changing to a referral assessment service, where the referral will be triaged before booking. The patient booking team will then contact patients with appointments.
- Continue to use the advice and guidance function of the e-referral service.
DIAGNOSTICS:
CARDIOLOGY (ECHO and ECG):
- We are accepting GP referrals for cardiology diagnostics, and will continue to book ECHOs within six weeks of referral.
- ECGs are still a walk-in service at Clinic G, main outpatients. Times are Tuesday: 13:30 - 16:45,
Wednesday: 09:00-16:45 and Thursday: 13:30-16:45
- Urgent GP requests for ECHO will be booked as normal
- Planned low risk surveillance cases for ECHO are being postponed during the surge.
ENDOSCOPY:
- We are keen that all OPA slots available are used for urgent patients
- Urgent booking priorities are defined as therapeutic interventions for upper GI/panc-bil patients, early cancer treatments, patients on a two week wait pathway, bowel cancer screening patients
- An ‘urgency endoscopy booking team’ have been assigning to manage urgent OPA slots
- Surveillance procedures are currently limited. However the booking criteria is constantly being reviewed and we will increase capacity as soon as possible.
IMAGING:
- We continue to accept GP requests for CT, MRI, DEXA, X-ray & Ultrasound
- All patients for CT, MRI, DEXA, X-ray & Ultrasound will be offered an appointment
- For patients requiring URGENT same or next day X-ray, our opening hours are 09.00-17.00, Monday – Friday. The URGENT walk-in service is only for suspected trauma/injury that may require urgent treatment.
- All CT, MRI, DEXA, X-ray & Ultrasound requests must be RAG rated to support our Covid response:
Red = 2WW, cancer pathway and any patient with a cancer history, ? recurrence.
Amber = No known cancer but clinical indication indicates the request can’t be deferred.
Green = Can wait and safely be deferred. Currently waits are 4 – 8 weeks.
- If a request on a shielded patient is marked as red or amber it is important that the patient attend for the imaging examination despite their shielded status. We request that the GP discuss this with the patient.
- Taking all above into consideration, we ask all referring GP practices to proactively note in the clinical indications how they wish to categorise the referral in relation to the above RAG rating. In the interest of ensuring all referrals have a suitable RAG rating associated with the Imaging request, if no rating is indicated, we will assume such referrals to be ‘Green’ and register them accordingly.
GYNAE:
- Gynae services for GPs - everything that was previously available continues to be available via ERS although waiting times for some parts of our services are being impacted.
To keep abreast of changes, please visit the home page of the UCLH website, where there is a link to COVID-19 (Coronavirus): Information for patients and visitors. This contains a regularly updated section on service updates.
Referral contact: uclh.appointments@nhs.net
Our consultants
Our services
GP switchboard Tel: 020 3447 9000 (open all hours)
