Gastroenterology / Hepatology referrals

Referring via e-Referral

Use e-Referral for:

• Routine patients: these should always be referred via the e-Referral Service.
• Urgent patients: all urgent referrals should now go through the e-Referral Service, rather than being faxed to the department.

Directly Bookable Service for Gastroenterology / Hepatology

The GP surgery will generate an appointment referral request with appropriate priority (urgent or routine) for the service on e-Referral and UBRN in the usual way.

To select a directly booked appointment, please see the guide at the link below, which shows how to use the system.

Directly Bookable Service quick guide (pdf, 720 KB)

An electronic proforma or appropriate letter needs to be attached to the e-Referral system by the surgery within 48 hours for a routine or urgent appointment.

In the case that the Trust cannot provide an immediate appointment, 'Defer to Provider' can be selected and Trust processes will be in place to contact the patient within 48 hours for an urgent or routine appointment.

18WW clock will start on the date the GP or patient makes the appointment booking.

GPs should check their patients have appointments on their e-Referral worklist. This applies to all appointment requests made through e-Referral.

Please note exclusions:

2WW Gastroenterology and Hepatology to remain as existing process.

For further information please visit 'e-Referral':

e-Referral

2 Week Wait patients

2 Week Wait patients should preferably be faxed to the 2 Week Wait Bureau, as all referrals are triaged to ensure they are booked into the most appropriate clinic as soon as possible.

Referring direct

If the patient has chosen to use the John Radcliffe Hospital and the complaint is either General Surgery, Vascular or Gastro, send a letter via the post to:

Consultant (if known) or specialty
John Radcliffe Hospital
Headley Way
Headington
Oxford OX3 9DU

Common conditions

Common conditions treated in Gastroenterology are:

• general gastrointestinal disorders
• irritable bowel syndrome or dyspepsia not responding to management guidelines (OXWEB)

Procedures which may be performed in clinic:

• sigmoidoscopy (not open access)

Required investigations

• Full Blood count
• E-reactive protein
• Liver function tests
• Endomysial antibody serology (for IBS/annemia)

Exclusions from this clinic

• Direct Access Endoscopy

Alternative services

• Consider geratology if patient is aged >85 years
• Consider general medicine for ill-defined symptoms or colorectal surgery

Associated clinics

Viral hepatitis clinic

• Hepatitis C and B only patients

Liver/pancreatobiliary clinic

• Liver disease (except Hepatitis B & C)
• Pancreatobiliary disease

Coeliac clinic

• Coeliac patients
• Required investigations include:
  • definitive diagnosis of coeliac disease
  • positive endomysial antibody serology

Inflammatory bowel disease

• Ulcerative colitis
• Crohn's disease
• Required investigations include:
  • full blood count
  • reactive protein

General note

Blood diarrhoea is appropriate, but not simply a change in bowel habit with rectal bleeding. Abdominal pain with diarrhoea and weight-loss and elevated CRP is appropriate, but not symptoms in the absence of objective evidence of inflammation, except in patients previously diagnosed with IBD.