Respiratory medicine referrals

Coronavirus: respiratory medicine update

In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, please read our advice and information before making any referrals.

Referral contacts

• Chest department 
  1st floor, Lambeth Wing
  St Thomas' Hospital
  Westminster Bridge Road
  London SE1 7EH

Who can refer

All NHS GP referrals must be submitted using the NHS e-Referral service (formerly Choose and Book). Referrals sent by email or by post from GPs will not be processed.

We welcome referrals from primary care and other hospitals.

Our service offers outpatient clinics for both general and specialist treatment at both hospitals for all chest and respiratory disorders, with the exception of cystic fibrosis. Our service also includes the sleep disorders centre.

Our range of diagnostic services include:

• • fibreoptic bronchoscopy
  • endoscopic bronchial ultrasound (tertiary)
  • diagnostic pleural ultrasound
  • image guided pleural procedures
• • thoracoscopy
  • pulmonary function testing
  • full cardiopulmonary exercise testing
  • TB testing
  • contact tracing

How to refer

• Routine referrals

  Referrals for suspected TB can be made directly via the NHS e-referral system (formerly Choose and Book) or by email using the address below. Please refer contact tracing to the community TB team on 020 7188 5811.

  All other referrals for respiratory conditions can be made:

  • via the NHS e-referral system (formerly Choose and Book) into a general chest clinic
  • by email to the department at gst-tr.ThoracicMedicine@nhs.net. These will be triaged to a specialist clinic if this is appropriate.

  Referrals may be addressed to a named consultant or to a generic respiratory consultant.

• Two week wait referrals 

  All suspected lung cancers should be referred directly through the NHS e-referral system (formerly Choose and Book).

• Emergency referrals

  To make an emergency referral, telephone our switchboard on 020 7188 7188 and ask for the on-call respiratory registrar.

  Referrals from other hospitals must include a completed Inter-Provider Minimum Data Set or ensure that one is sent within 48 hours of referring a patient.

• EBUS referrals

  To make a referral to the EBUS service, please use the referral form (Word 187Kb) and email it to gst-tr.ebusgstt@nhs.net.

• Pleural referrals

  To make a referral to the pleural service, please use the referral form (Word 163Kb) and email it to gst-tr.pleuralteam@nhs.net.

  If you require any further information, please call the pleural team on 020 7188 7188 extension number 58675.

• Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) referrals

  To make a tertiary referral to the ILD service, please email gst-tr.khpildservice@nhs.net.

• Acute asthma referrals

  To make a tertiary referral to the acute asthma service, please email gst-tr.AsthmaService@nhs.net.