Adolescent and young adult rheumatology

Outside of office hours

There is limited cover outside of office hours, from 5pm - 7.30pm on week days, and from 10am - 3pm on weekends and public holidays. Your GP or local hospital doctor can call the UCLH switchboard (020 3456 7890) and request to speak with the rheumatology registrar on call. This service is very limited and should only be used for serious concerns. For routine queries please contact us during office hours.

Urgent or serious illness

In the case of urgent problems you should attend your local hospital accident and emergency department or urgent treatment centre as a medical emergency and also inform our adolescent rheumatology coordinator on UCLH.adolescentrheumatologyteam@nhs.net who will forward you message to the team (Office hours only). Your GP or local hospital doctor can go through the UCLH switchboard and request to speak with the adolescent rheumatology registrar or rheumatology registrar on call. The registrar will be able to contact a rheumatology consultant if required. For emergencies occurring when no rheumatology registrar is available, a local hospital doctor may wish to contact the adolescent rheumatology consultant on call via UCLH switchboard.

Concerns about worsening rheumatology conditions

If you have problems such as more joint swelling, pain and stiffness, or concerns about your treatment or side effects please email our adolescent rheumatology coordinator, UCLH.adolescentrheumatologyteam@nhs.net who will pass your message to the adolescent team for advice. The team will try to reply within two working days. If you do not live locally to University College Hospital and share care with a local rheumatology service you should make contact with them in the first instance. It is always a good idea to access your GP as your first point of contact.

Minor illness

If you are suffering from a minor illness such as cold or flu like symptoms e.g. sore throat, coughs, runny nose etc. or symptoms unrelated to your rheumatological condition, please contact your GP.

Running out of your medication

Please ensure you visit your GP for your repeat prescriptions. We do not routinely supply repeat prescriptions. Please let us know if you are having difficulty obtaining medications by emailing uclh.adolescentrheumatologyteam@nhs.net. Supplies of self-injected biologic medications such as adalimumab, etanercept and tocilizumab are delivered to your home address. If you are experiencing problems with your deliveries please contact us on the email addresses above, In order to receive a repeat prescription of these medications, you will need to have up to date blood tests so if you have had these locally please forward them to the same email addresses.

Outpatient clinic appointments

The adolescent rheumatology clinics run weekly on Wednesdays. The young adult clinics run on Mondays. These clinics are designed to facilitate the transition from the adolescent to the adult care setting for those young people with chronic inflammatory conditions such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and connective tissue disorders including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Dermatomyositis. There is also an adolescent pain clinic which runs on a Friday. If you have any questions about your clinic appointments please contact our adolescent rheumatology coordinator on uclh.adolescentrheumatologyteam@nhs.net.  Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment and wear or bring clothes suitable for joint examination such as shorts and a T-shirt. You are welcome to bring a parent or carer with you to your appointment but we encourage you to undertake part or all of the consultation on your own if you feel confident to do so. Our appointments are in high demand, if you cannot attend your appointment please contact us on 0203 447 9393 or 0203 456 7890 in good time so that someone else can be offered the appointment.

Day care on T11 ward and inpatient services on T12

T12 South ward:  Inpatient direct number: 020 3447 1281 please call the morning of your in-patient admission to check there is a bed available for you before you leave home. 
 
T11 Day Care: If you are booked into the Day care unit for joint injections or treatment and either cannot make the appointment or need to change the appointment please inform us giving at least 2 days notice via the adolescent rheumatology coordinator on uclh.adolescentrheumatologyteam@nhs.net. If you want to cancel or inform us that you are going to be late on the day of your day care appointment please contact T11 ward directly on 020 3697 1181 or 020 3697 1100 to let us know. Please be aware that if you are coming to the day ward to receive an infusion, you will need to be assessed, blood tests taken, a urine sample checked for infection, and results obtained prior to an infusion being administered. Therefore, it is important to come on time.

Imaging (to cancel or rebook X-rays, ultrasound scans or MRI scans): 0203 447 9070

Please do not use the messaging function in the MyChart App to contact us. Messages through this system are not reliably received by the clinical team so please use the email addresses above.