Our lipid and cardiovascular risk clinic is a one-stop centre for genetic diagnosis and management of lipid disorders. We offer world class research facilities and access to new medications. The clinic is based at Hammersmith Hospital and supported by the clinical diabetes and endocrine service at Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals.

Our clinic supports people with raised blood fats, such as cholesterol (familial hypercholesterolaemia) and triglycerides, which are associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease, and patients who cannot tolerate usual medications. Our team works with at-risk patients to diagnose medical conditions, measure and monitor levels of lipids (blood fats), provide cardiovascular risk assessments and find suitable treatments to lower the levels of lipids in their blood. Genetic diagnosis of clinical presentations is also available along with advanced imaging to detect early onset diseases of the blood vessels.

In addition to medical management, patients have access to a dedicated dietician. We also provide a specific children’s service, which occurs quarterly in the paediatric outpatients department at Hammersmith Hospital. This clinic is run jointly with a lipid clinician and a consultant paediatrician.

St Mary’s Hospital provides the largest clinical diabetes and endocrine service in north west London. It operates from a purpose built one-stop diabetes and endocrine centre that accommodates a retinal screening centre, an endocrine investigations unit and consultation rooms for the multidisciplinary team.

Conditions and treatments

We treat a variety of conditions including:

  • patients who are intolerant of first-line lipid-lowering treatment, usually statins
  • patients who do not achieve target lipid levels with first-line lipid-lowering treatment and in most cases will require a second-line lipid-lowering agent, even third and fourth to get patients to acceptable cholesterol levels. These include therapies such as PCSK9 inhibitor injections
  • patients with inherited lipid disorders: We treat raised blood lipids with a combination of dietary care, regular exercise and lipid lowering medications. We offer lipoprotein apheresis on a weekly or bi-weekly treatment protocol for patients affected by homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia. 

We also offer the following investigations:

  • baseline blood tests such as full blood count, renal and liver biochemistry, glucose, HbA1c and lipid profile
  • more specialist lipid testing such as apolipoproteins (A&B) and lipoprotein (a)
  • Apo E genotyping and DNA analysis for familial hypercholesterolaemia at an accredited genetics laboratory

Clinics

Lipid clinic

The adult lipid clinic takes place every Friday morning in the main outpatients department at Hammersmith Hospital.

Address

Adult lipid clinic
Main outpatients department
Clinic A
Area A
Ground floor
Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS

Children's lipid clinic

The children's lipid clinic is held quarterly in the paediatric outpatients department at Hammersmith Hospital.

Address

Children's outpatient department
Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS

St Mary’s Hospital lipid clinic

A weekly lipid clinic for new and existing patients at St Mary’s Hospital for the management of a range of lipid and cholesterol disorders including:

  • primary hyperlipidaemia
  • secondary hyperlipidaemia
  • genetic/familial hyperlipidaemia
  • consideration of people for primary prevention
  • people with side effects from lipid-lowering drugs

Address

St Mary’s Hospital
Praed Street
London W2 1NY

 

Adults and family genetic screening clinic

A nurse-led clinic every Friday at Hammersmith Hospital.

Address

Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS

Contact information

Phone: 020 3313 7178

Meet the team

Consultants

Dr Jaimini Cegla
Dr Sirazum Choudhury
Dr Alessia David
Dr Ferruccio De Lorenzo
Dr Ben Jones
Prof Kausik Ray
Dr Shahenaz Walji

Lipid dietician

Caroline Barnes

Lipid nurse specialists

Lucy Barton
Ellen Calvelo
Josephine Sevilla Reyes

Patient information

Before your appointment

Before you come to the clinic you will need to have a fasting blood test. We will send you an information pack together with blood test forms and request you have the fasting blood test two weeks prior to your scheduled appointment. This is so we can discuss the results during your appointment.

For this blood test you cannot have anything to eat or drink (except water or black tea/coffee without sugar) for 12 hours beforehand. If you are diabetic you should not take your normal morning medication until after you have had the blood test. Otherwise, you should take all your usual medications as prescribed.

Patients attending the paediatric lipid clinic will have their blood test at the end of their first lipid clinic appointment at Hammersmith Hospital. It is advised that you wear clothing that can easily be removed for an examination to your appointment.

We usually see patients within 18 weeks of referral.

Please also remember to check your appointment letter for anything specific you have been asked to take with you. In addition, it would be helpful if you could bring the following:

  • Your full address and telephone number(s)
  • Your appointment card and appointment letter
  • Your GP’s name and address
  • Money to pay for any prescriptions, or an exemption card
  • A list of questions you may want to ask your consultant
  • A list of current medications

During your appointment

Upon arrival please report to the main reception with your appointment letter. Typical waiting times are up to 30 minutes. Please allow up to three hours for your appointment.

If you require an interpreter, we suggest you bring a friend or relative who can interpret for you to your appointment. If you are unable to do so we do have access to interpreters via a telephone service. You are welcome to ask for a chaperone and we will endeavour to provide one for you.

During your appointment you will be weighed, have your height measured and will need to give a urine sample for routine testing by the clinic nursing staff. You will be sent to have a routine electrocardiogram (ECG) test before you see the clinician.

Please note that we are a teaching hospital, so medical students may be present for some appointments. If you do not wish to have them in the room please let the nurse or doctor know and the students will be asked to step outside.

After your appointment

The hospital doctor will write to your GP with the results of your consultation. If we decide that any changes to your current treatment are necessary your GP will be advised.

Videos courtesy of the British Heart Foundation

The videos below, produced by the British Heart Foundation, can help you learn more about cholesterol and treatments for high cholesterol.

Understanding cholesterol

  

How do statins prevent heart attacks and strokes?

 

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) – Suzanne’s story

 

Refer to this service

GP

Referrals to our lipids clinics can be made through our NHS e-Referral Service. We also provide a consultation service for inpatients and patients in primary care and an acute referral service for hospitals both within and outside the Trust.

Secondary referrals

Secondary care referrals for lipoprotein apheresis can be addressed to Professor J Scott and Dr Shahenaz Walji. There are currently no electronic forms available.

Additional information

Education

We have training facilities for specialist registrars interested in lipidology and for students in the MSc in preventive cardiology programme at Imperial College London.

Further online resources