Your appointment at the rapid access diagnostic clinic

You have been referred to the rapid access diagnostic clinic at Guy's Hospital because you have noticed some changes in your body that your GP would like us to investigate. You may have already had a series of tests arranged by your GP, such as blood tests, X-ray or an ultrasound.

Your GP has referred you to the rapid access diagnostic clinic at Guy’s Hospital for further investigation of your symptoms. It is likely that additional tests will be needed to help the clinical team make a diagnosis. These could include: blood tests, imaging tests such as CT scans, endoscopy or other tests. The clinical team will discuss all of this with you beforehand.

Please call 020 7188 7188 (ext 55667) or 07393 763 157.

Please always let us know if you can't attend your appointment so that someone else can use it.

Please bring to your appointment any tablets and medicines you are taking or a list of your current medication.

You should also bring any medical letters or reports about care from hospitals other than Guy's and St Thomas’ that you think may be useful for us to see.

We may need to do a physical assessment, so wearing easily removable and comfortable clothing is helpful.

We will always ask for information about your GP and next of kin on arrival in our clinics, to keep our systems up-to-date.

Further instructions may be provided by the clinic at the time the appointment is confirmed, regarding specific investigations.

Each patient will have a clinical assessment and a range of investigations, depending on the symptoms they present with. You may see a number of different staff at your appointment, including doctors, nurses and radiographers. It can take up to four hours, but within that time, you will be fully assessed.

The support you receive will depend on your individual needs, but may include: 

• a full medical and nursing assessment to help determine any future treatment plan required, your medical fitness and any ongoing needs
• assessment of your mobility, independence and support needs. We will arrange support from physiotherapy, occupational therapy and social workers if and when these are required.

If you need to use hospital transport, then our specialist team of ambulance drivers will make sure you get safely to and from your appointment.

On completion of the investigations, you will either be referred back to your GP or your care will be passed on to another clinical team in the hospital, depending upon what is most appropriate for you.

We will provide you with all the results of these assessments and tests so you can discuss them with your GP and family. We will work closely with your GP to ensure your care is managed together with your other individual medical and support needs.