Primary care and our emergency departments (ED) communications

The emergency departments at Charing Cross and St Mary’s hospitals recognise the critical importance of good communication and collaboration with our primary care colleagues.

To that end we have three initiatives:

1. Providing direct access telephone numbers for primary care to discuss best pathways for patients with senior ED clinicians:

The emergency departments at Charing Cross and St Mary’s hospitals would like to improve communications with primary care by providing direct access mobile telephone numbers for our GP colleagues. The mobile telephone numbers would be manned by a consultant or senior registrar in the respective emergency department for patients who may need emergent care (not the critically unwell), but for whom a clear pathway and perhaps a timed visit would be beneficial. The consultant/senior registrar would then be able to give advice to GP colleagues and facilitate the patient getting to the right service. This wouldn’t replace referrals to specialties but would be for patients where there is uncertainty or a discussion would be beneficial. 

The direct access telephone numbers for the Charing Cross and St Mary’s emergency departments are:

• St Mary’s Hospital - 07867 602726
• Charing Cross Hospital – 0203 311 1532

2. Collating GP bypass telephone numbers from GP practices to enhance information sharing at the time the patient is in the ED:

The emergency departments would also like bypass telephone numbers to our local GP practices in North-west London for two-way communication. An ED consultant can then contact the GP practice, while the patient is in the department, for further information or a discussion, without waiting an extended amount of time. To forward your practice’s bypass telephone number, please email GP liaison: gpliaison.imperial@nhs.net, who will create a directory for the ED departments.

3. Improvements to GP discharge letters

We are working with our junior doctors to improve the quality of the discharge letter from the department – if you have any specific suggestions for improvements to the content of the letters we send, please do let us know.

If you would like to discuss any of the above initiatives further, get involved, or suggest other ways of improving communication between ED and primary care, please email ED consultants, Ruth Brown (ruth.brown8@nhs.net) or Lucy Bingham (lucy.bingham@nhs.net).