Referrals

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NHS Referrals

Most NHS referrals are sent by your GP using a secure online system called ‘e-Referrals’ to the Camden Clinical Assessment Service (CCAS). You should receive a phone call, letter or email from CCAS within two weeks of your GP having sent your referral. They will offer you an appointment at the hospital of your choice and will be able to advise you about current waiting times (which vary between different hospital and departments and at different times of the year).

If you have not heard anything about your appointment within two weeks please phone CCAS on 08081698113.

Private Referrals

If your GP would like to refer you to see a specialist and you have private medical insurance, you can ask for a private referral rather than a NHS referral. In most cases, there is no charge for private referral letters. Private referrals are not prioritized over NHS referrals and you may have a short wait before your GP can complete your referral letter. Please do not come to the surgery having already booked a private appointment, asking for a referral letter to be written straight away. Whilst we aim to be as helpful as possible to our patients, it is not always possible to oblige in these circumstances.

If your specialist issues you with a private prescription, please be aware of certain restrictions with regards to private prescriptions.

Psychology Referrals

Find out more

Mental Health Referrals

Adults

Referral to adult and old age mental health services is through your GP. They may refer you to the Primary Care Mental Health Team or to the Camden Mental Health Assessment and Advice Team. They would then see you for a detailed assessment and refer you to one of the many specialized mental health services provided by the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust.

In the event of a mental health crisis, we would recommend booking an appointment with your regular GP or phoning the Duty Doctor, if no appointments are available. If the surgery is closed you can attend the Royal Free Hospital A+E which has a mental health worker on duty 24/7.

You can also contact The Samaritans online, by phone on 08457 90 90 90 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org.

Your GP might be able to refer you to the North Camden Crisis Resolution Team. If you have been seen by the Crisis Team in the past, you can self-refer by phoning them directly 020 3317 6333.

Children and Adolescents

Open Minded is the new name for what used to be called the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service.  It is a set of services for children, young people (0-18 years old), their families, and carers who are experiencing emotional, behavioural and mental health problems.

Children can be referred by their GP or they (or their parents) can self-refer - or find out more about these services - by calling the Joint Intake Referral Service on 020 8938 2638.

Physiotherapy Referrals

A community physiotherapy service is provided in Camden by MSK Camden. They provide general physiotherapy, musculoskeletal, pain management, orthopaedics, podiatry and women’s health physiotherapy services from a number of hospitals, GP practices and health centres throughout Camden.

You can refer yourself to the service by calling 020 3447 7779   to make an appointment. Your initial contact with one of their chartered physiotherapists may be over the phone, where you will either be given advice on appropriate treatment, or a face-to-face consultation will be arranged.

See the MSK Camden website for further information.

Podiatry Referrals

Camden Foot Care (Podiatry) Service provides assessment, treatment and advice for people with skin, nail or mechanical foot problems, and for people with diabetes. Clinics are mostly held at the Belsize Priory Clinic.

The service accepts referrals from GPs and other healthcare professionals for patients aged between 16 and 60.

The service is not suitable for people with who have a verruca or who need custom shoes - you should speak to your GP about these problems.

Referral for Pregnancy Care

If you are pregnant and would like to be referred to local maternity services then you can do so either by visiting your GP or by referring yourself to the hospital of your choice online. Most of our expectant mums opt for either University College Hospital, Royal Free Hospital or St Mary's Hospital for their antenatal care. It is likely that you will need to see your GP at least once during or after your pregnancy and all of our doctors would be delighted to see you after you first find out that you are pregnant. Often pregnancy is the first time in a woman's life that she is regularly coming into contact with healthcare professionals and it can be opportunity to start developing a relationship with a GP who may well end up becoming the family doctor for your baby after he/she is born.

We would recommend that you contact your GP or the hospital of your choice soon after you find out that you are pregnant and certainly not much later than eight weeks after your last menstrual period. You can find out more about the normal schedule for NHS antenatal care.

Please note that the Abbey Medical Centre does not do routine urine pregnancy tests for the confirmation of pregnancy. If you think that you may be pregnant, please confirm that this is the case with a home pregnancy test before seeing your GP.

Online Referral Links

Maternity self-referral at the Royal Free Hospital

Maternity self-referral at St Mary's Hospital

Contraception and Family Planning Referrals

All of the GPs and the practice nurse at the Abbey Medical Centre have training in contraception and family planning. At the moment, however we are unable to offer coil fitting or contraceptive implants at the surgery. There are a number of family planning clinics in Camden that you can attend without GP referral for emergency contraception, coil fitting, contraceptive implants, general contraceptive advice and smear tests.

Visit the website for further details and to book an appointment 

The locations of the clinics are:

Sexual Health Testing

If you do not have any symptoms but would like to be tested for sexually transmitted infection, the NHS now offers the opportunity to do this at home via a postal self testing kit. Please see the Sexual Health London website for details.

If you are having symptoms which you are concerned might be due to a sexually transmitted infection please make an appointment with a GP or practice nurse or attend a sexual health clinic:

There are a number of sexual health (GUM) clinics in central and north London offer testing and treatment of all sexually transmitted infections (STIs/STDs), including HIV tests. You do not need a referral from your GP.

The locations of the clinics are:

Incontinence Referrals

The Camden and Islington Bladder and Bowel Care Service sees both adults and children (from the age of 3 years) who have bladder or bowel problems (including bed & daytime wetting, constipation, excluding stoma care). Your GP can refer you to this service or you can refer yourself by phoning 020 3316 8401.