Refer a patient to the Rheumatology department

This page includes information on how to refer a patient to the Rheumatology department at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).Please see our admission criteria for information about the diagnoses treated by the Rheumatology department at GOSH.

As a tertiary care hospital, all children who attend GOSH must be referred via local hospital consultants or community paediatricians. In exceptional circumstances, children with inflammatory conditions only may be referred via a GP following discussion with one of our consultants.

To make a referral for an inflammatory condition to the Rheumatology department please email gos-tr.referrals@nhs.net or fax 020 7813 8310. Please see below for referrals to our non-inflammatory assessment service.

For urgent out-of-hours admissions please contact the GOSH switchboard on 020 7405 9200 and ask for the on-call rheumatology registrar.

Referral letters must include:

• a clear history of the presenting complaint

• past history

• family history

• medication history

• physical examination including fever chart where relevant

• urinalysis if relevant

• bloods done (please liaise first before taking bloods)

• other tests (please liaise first to save unnecessary X-rays, bone scans, MRI etc)

• other health professionals involved

• information given to parents and child

• school, including amount missed

We offer an assessment service for children with non-inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions.

Non-inflammatory patients must be referred by a paediatrician and be accompanied by this completed form: Non-inflammatory service referral form (43.62 KB)

Wherever possible, the referral should also include this form completed by the patient's local physiotherapist: Physiotherapy Proforma NIMPS

Further details on this service can be found here.

• Paul Brogan, Professor of Vasculitis and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Rheumatology

• Despina Eleftheriou, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Rheumatology

• Clarissa Pilkington, Consultant in Paediatric Rheumatology

• Sandrine Lacassagne, Consultant in Paediatric Rheumatology

• Lucy Wedderburn, Professor and Honorary Consultant and Reader in Paediatric Rheumatology

• Muthana Al Obaidi, Consultant in Paediatric Rheumatology

• Charalampia Papadopoulou, Consultant in Paediatric Rheumatology

• Elena Moriatis, Consultant in Paediatric Rheumatology

The Rheumatology department at GOSH offers diagnosis and management of children with inflammatory rheumatological diseases.

Referrals for non-inflammatory musculoskeletal problems are also accepted for assessment and advice on future local management.

Uniquely, this unit provides a GOSH-wide service for referral and management of vasculitis and recurrent fever syndromes.
The core specialties regularly involved are rheumatology, nephrology, infectious diseases and immunology.

Our medical team also works in the Adolescent Unit at the University College London Hospital (UCLH). Young people aged between 14 and 16 years are transferred to this clinic for treatment in an age-specific environment.

The team also works closely with local teams in secondary centres to ensure that our patients are treated in a way that best suits them. To facilitate this, the team has set up the Rheumatology Shared Care Unit (RheSCU) network.

The Rheumatology department offers inpatient, outpatient, day care and ambulatory services.

The Rheumatology department provides diagnostic tests and therapies, treating patients with the following diseases:

• juvenile idiopathic arthritis

• juvenile enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA)

• psoriatic arthritis

• arthritis associated with other chronic diseases (eg cystic fibrosis)

• scleroderma

• juvenile dermatomyositis

• vasculitis

• chronic infantile neurological cutaneous and articular syndrome

• chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis

• periodic fever syndromes

• mixed connective tissue disease

• systemic lupus erythematosus

• overlap connective tissue disease

The ward has 16 inpatient beds and also treats patients who come in for ambulatory day care.

All general feedback and suggestions can be directed to:

Rheumatology secretary
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street
London
WC1N 3JH

Telephone number: 020 7405 9200 Ext 7887
Fax: 020 7813 8580

Professor Paul Brogan
Specialty Lead for Rheumatology
Telephone number: 020 7405 9200 Ext 7887

Yolanda Adjepong
Service Manager
Telephone number: 020 7405 9200 Ext 6709

Esther Dontoh
General Manager
Telephone number: 020 7405 9200 Ext 5096