Guidance for making an NHS referral
We work with GPs and community nursing colleagues all over the UK and welcome referrals from healthcare professionals for wounds, chronic oedema, lymphoedema, gait, biomechanics or general mobility.
We empower clinicians to manage patients locally with the support of our expert team.
What are the types of referral?
Accelerate currently provides two main referral types:
- Wounds
- Lymphoedema
There are specific criteria for making referrals and these are given at the top of the referral form so you can double check whether your patient is eligible.
Who can refer?
Any healthcare professional can refer to our service. We do not accept NHS self-referrals.
Where do the appointments take place?
As specialists in the treatment of both wounds and lymphoedema, our expert team provide care to patients:
- In the Accelerate Clinic at our Centre for Excellence and Innovation at Mare Street, Hackney
- Our Leg Ulcer Clinics at Bethnal Green Health Centre and Newby Health Centre
-
Community Services for Tower Hamlets and City & Hackney housebound patients
What information do you need to provide?
As well as personal information about your patient, it is important that the patient’s medical history and, if possible, photographs of the problem area, are shared with our team for us to perform a full assessment and provide the best possible care to the patient.
*In Northeast London, General Practices have access to each Accelerate referral template in the clinical system they currently use and it auto populates with the required information.
Completing the referral form
Many of the fields in the form are mandatory, indicated by an asterisk (*). You will not be able to submit your referral without completing these.
The form is simple to complete, but if you have questions or concerns, please email us accelerate@acceleratecic.com
What can you expect after your submit your referral?
Once you submit your referral, we will ensure to provide the following to all health care professional and patients:
- Comprehensive support from wound and lymphoedema professionals
- Clear communication and feedback
- A collaborative approach to patient care
- Access to specialist-led treatment options
- Tailored self-management plans
Other considerations when making your referral
Early intervention pathways
Please follow our Early Intervention Pathways for patient care. We have developed these to assist healthcare professionals in the early care of patients with wounds or lymphoedema. These pathways allow you to treat patients before referring them to our services.
Download Lymphoedema Early Intervention Pathway
DownlOAd Wound Early Intervention Pathway (Lower Limb only)
Shared care approach
For some patients we may need to share care with local services. This plan will be agreed with the patient and local services.
Appointment waiting times
We have a robust triage process to ensure that all urgent patients are seen as soon as possible. We aim to see urgent patients within 4 to 8 weeks of receiving the referral and routine patients after 8 weeks. It is important to note that we are currently experiencing a high demand for our services, and this may influence patient waiting times.
Discharge criteria
- Patients who are stable / healed and can self-manage their condition with support and necessary prescriptions from their GP
- Patients whose needs are being met by their primary and / or social care providers
- Patients who chooses to decline care
We provide a discharge letter to the GP and any relevant local clinicians outlining recommendations for after care.
Did not attend (DNA) policy
A DNA is recorded when a patient:
- Fails to attend a scheduled appointment without informing Accelerate
- Cancels with less than 24 hours ‘notice
The following consequences apply:
- Initial Assessment (1st Appointment): 1 DNA results in automatic discharge
- Review Appointment: 2 consecutive DNAs result in automatic discharge
Once a patient is discharged due to not attending their appointment, they will need to be re-referred to our service.
Prescribing information for GPs and District Nurses
Compression
A wide range of compression products are now available on FP10. However, the EMIS system does not currently support the use of PIP codes for made-to-measure items. Therefore, you must rely on made to measure forms provided by suppliers.
For clinicians using the Accelerate Dressing Optimisation Scheme (Click!) to order wound care products, please ensure you check the Click website first to determine if the item is available for direct ordering before using alternative prescribing routes.
Pain relief
Pain management and provision of pain medication remain the remit of the patient’s local GP. We will liaise as required with the GP to provide information to help them optimise pain management for patients.
Antibiotics
- If infection is suspected the following will happen:
- Clincians will swab the wound in line with national and international guidance
- As we do not have the facility to process clinical samples, the swab will be given to the patient to take to GP for local processing (Following local infection control guidance) . This ensures the results are reported within the GP records.
All relevant clinical information will be provided for the GP to aid clinical decision making
Emollients and topical steroid creams / ointments
If emollients or topical steroids are clinically indicated, a prescription will be requested from the GP, and the patient is expected to bring the required treatment to their appointments. Prescribing remains the clinical decision of the prescriber. We can only advise.
Contact
Please call 020 3819 6022 or email accelerate@acceleratecic.com if you have any questions.