From Wednesday 7 June to Tuesday 13 June, Guy’s and St Thomas’ is running One Team Week, a clinically-led, cross-specialty emergency care improvement week. One Team Week will run from 11am to 11pm every day of the week, including the weekend.

During One Team Week, a dedicated GP priority phone line will be available 24/7, with our operators able to put you directly through to the specialty you require. GP hotline: 020 7188 4488 provides:

• Better primary care access to speciality advice
• One number to access decision makers across all specialities
• More senior advice, more rapidly available
• Direct triage to speciality clinic if appropriate
• Helping to prevent unnecessary emergency attendances
• Available 24/7  from 7June to 13 June (including weekend).

We will be reviewing the impact of the initiative and welcome GP feedback. If you have any queries, please contact Marie Stevens, Project Manager, at Marie.Stevens@gstt.nhs.uk. 

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is looking to improve access to the GP referral information on our website .

We would be grateful if GPs, practice administration staff and practice nurses could share their experience as referrers and answer a short (five questions) survey.

Click here or on the following link to start the survey: 
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7XP3TGW

A project which has improved the quality of information available to women who have had uterine fibroids has won the ‘Obstetrics and gynaecology’ category of the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Value in Healthcare Awards which took place on Wednesday 24 May.

The Transforming Outcomes and Health Economics Through Imaging (TOHETI) programme – which is funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and works across King’s Health Partners – brought together patients and clinicians to produce a short film and leaflet  which have been distributed to more than 250 GP surgeries and 400 pharmacies in Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham.

Nine teams of district nurses are spread across seven localities in Lambeth and Southwark.

The Single Point of Access (SPA) processes and acknowledges all referrals to the service.

For general referral enquiries, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, contact the Single Point of Access: 0203 049 4020.

After 5pm, weekends and bank holidays please contact 0207 188 3299 where your call will be answered by switchboard and directed to the nurse on call for your area.

Please click on the link below to find the key contacts of the District Nursing Service in your area.

The new national clinical guidelines recommend that patients with transient ischaemic attack (TIA) are seen and managed within 24 hours of referral.

Guy’s and St Thomas' has set up a system that enables patients to be seen every weekday (Mon-Fri) by staff at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and by the Hyperacute Stroke Team at Kings' College Hospital at weekends.

How to refer:

• To discuss the case prior referring contact the TIA Mobile (07825 023845) Mon-Fri from 9am to 5pm.

• Download and use this referral form.

 Please note that the previous risk stratification tool, the ABCD2 score, is no longer used.

Please use these updated emails when referring to the following dermatology specialities:

Cutaneous allergy referrals
Click here

Hair and nails referrals
Click here

Photodermatology service
Click here

The Rapid Access Diagnostic Clinic provides a dedicated pathway for GPs to refer patients aged 45 years or over if they have significant concerns about non-specific symptoms which raise suspicions but for which there is no appropriate urgent referral pathway. 

The medical clinic at Guy’s Hospital provides quick access to a range of tests including blood tests, CT scans and endoscopy. Patients will be seen within seven days of referral from the GP. 

How to refer:

For the full list of inclusion criteria visit the website.

Please complete the referral form and email it to gst-tr.rapidaccessdiagnosticclinic@nhs.net

The service is  also available on eRS (Choose and Book)   

The team can be contacted on 02071887188 ext: 55667.

Recently Wi-Fi network services have been supplied across the GP practice centres in Southwark and Lambeth.

One of the aims of this provision, was that the Wi-Fi could be used by visiting NHS community staff such as district nurses and health visitors from outside of each practice.

In order to ensure that visiting community staff can access the Wi-Fi, please can GP practices ensure that your reception staff are aware of the access codes for their Wi-Fi and be prepared to provide these to visiting NHS staff.

The Harrison Wing (outpatient  HIV treatment  unit) will be moving from St Thomas’ Hospital to 2nd Floor, Southwark Wing, Guy’s Hospital on 5 July. The last treatment day at St Thomas' will be on 29 June.

Our Healthier South East London (OHSEL) is running a series of events to find out more about plans for local health and care services across south east London.

These events will cover the main areas of focus of the OHSEL programme, including community-based care, digital, and mental health. Local health leaders will be on hand to answer questions and discuss what these plans will mean each of the six boroughs in south east London.

The King’s Undergraduate Medical Education in the Community (KUMEC) team at Guy’s King’s and St Thomas’ School of Medical Education (GKT) is looking for GP practices in and around Lambeth to host students.

They are launching a new Longitudinal Placement for 2^nd year medical students. This type of placement has been shown to encourage students to not only enter the GP workforce, but often to return to the area and practices in which they trained.

Remuneration is £12,160 for teaching on 24 days over the course of the year.​

King’s Health Partners has published Innovation Impact Stories, a new book showcasing a wide variety of clinical academic collaborations to improve the lives of our patients.

The book features examples from each of our partnership’s Clinical Academic Groups highlighting how teams from across our four partners have worked together to find innovative solutions to shared challenges. Read the book here.

A new report by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity creates a rich picture of the lived experience of health in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.

The report is supported with short films capturing the lived experience of health of local residents. Watch the films and download the report on the charity website.

The Coaching and Mentoring Team is delighted to announce the creation of an accredited ‘Introduction to Coaching’ short course, which offers an overview of coaching skills for those wishing to use a coaching style with others: colleagues, patients, students, friends or family!

The benefits of using a coaching approach with others include:

• Increased ownership and commitment to/for an individual's performance, targets and goals
• Improved awareness of personal learning and development
• Enhanced ability to find solutions to issues.

The next Schwartz centre round is taking place on Friday 23 June, in the Tower Lecture Theatre at Guy’s Hospital Hospital from 1-2pm. Lunch will be provided for attendees from 12:30pm. The title of this round is “Attaching labels to patients we’ve not yet met”.

A two-day multidisciplinary course for hospital and community staff for GPs, nurses, healtcare workers and anyone who cares for people in their last year or so of life.