Your appointment with the GOLD team

Care of older people with cancer

Cancer

  • Clinics

    The GOLD team will contact you to arrange the appointment inviting you to attend our clinic. The clinics take place in both the Older Persons Assessment Unit (at Guy’s Hospital) and the Chemotherapy Village (at the Cancer Centre).

    Clinic name GOLD clinic
    Telephone 020 7188 7188, ext. 56494
    Description

    Multidisciplinary support by geriatricians and oncologists for older people undergoing cancer treatment

    Locations

    Older person assessment unit
    Ground Floor
    Bermondsey Wing
    Great Maze Pond
    London SE1 9RT

    Chemotherapy Village
    Cancer Centre
    Guy’s Hospital
    Great Maze Pond
    London SE1 9RT

    Frequency

    Five clinics a week.

  • How to change or cancel your appointment

    Please telephone the team directly on 020 7188 7188, ext. 56494 as soon as possible so that your appointment can be given to another patient.

  • What to bring to your appointment

    Feel free to bring a member of your family with you.

    Please bring with you a list of all the medications that you are currently taking (or have taken in the recent past). This should include prescriptions from your doctor or other specialist, any alternative or herbal remedies and anything you have bought over the counter. Please also bring any medical letters or reports about care you have been receiving at hospitals other than Guy's and St Thomas’ that you think may be useful for us to see.

  • What to expect at your appointment

    Your first appointment may take up two hours.

    Follow-up appointments take 30 minutes-one hour.

    We make every effort to see you on time but delays may occur, so please allow plenty of time.

    You will be seen by a nurse and then a doctor, who will take your family history and examine you. We may ask you to undress to examine you. The doctor or nurse will ask if you are comfortable before starting any such examination and you can request a chaperone at any time.

    The person you see may not be the doctor named in your appointment letter but will be a member of the same team. 

    As this is a teaching hospital, students supervised by qualified staff might be involved in your care. It is valuable training for students and does not affect the quality of your treatment in any way, but please tell us if you do not want them to be present or involved. We will always respect your wishes.

    You may also:

    • have an electronic tracing of your heart and blood tests. This will all take place in the same clinic
    • have an x-ray if your doctor requests this. We will aim to have this done on the same day as your appointment.

  • After your appointment

    We will send you and your GP a copy of your assessment by post. We will also send a copy to the consultant or surgical speciality that referred you us. We may:

    • change your medications
    • suggest further treatment
    • request further tests before your surgery.

    If further tests are needed, we will continue to review you. This review may be in the form of:

    • a return appointment to our clinic
    • a visit to your home by a member of our team
    • a telephone call to you to see how you are doing
    • a GP review.

    If you would like to discuss your assessment, please contact the GOLD Team on the number provided and a member of the team will be happy to help you.