Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition - Welcome to the Service

Your child has been referred to the department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. This leaflet is to tell you information about the service and what to expect.

Who are the team members?

The team is made up of the following team members:

• Consultants
• Clinical fellows
• Registrars
• Specialist nurses
• Dietitians
• Speech and language therapist
• Clinical psychologists
• Pharmacist
• Health care assistants
• Medical secretaries

What clinics do we hold?

We hold general gastroenterology and specialist clinics. These are held throughout the week and appointments may be on any day depending on your child’s needs and our staff availability.

What should I expect when I come to clinic?

The clinics can be very busy and although we try hard to keep to appointment times, this is not always possible. There should be information available in clinic to let you know an estimated waiting time. You can help us by attending 20 minutes before your appointment time to allow time for your details to be checked and your child to be weighed.

Who might I see in clinic?

A senior doctor from the team is present at all clinics. This is usually the consultant whose name is on your appointment card. However, in order to minimise clinic cancellations, the senior team members will cover each other’s clinics in cases of absence. Not every patient will be seen by the clinic consultant. However, all patients are discussed with the senior paediatrician either during or after the clinic. We work closely as a team but important information about your child is only shared where appropriate. If you attend regularly, we do try to ensure that your child sees the same doctor at each visit. Although this is often not possible due to complicated on-call arrangements.

We are dedicated to training future paediatricians, so that you may be seen by either a specialist gastroenterology registrar and/or one of our clinical fellows. There may also be medical students, visiting fellows or junior doctors present in the consultation. Please let your clinic doctor know if you would like to be seen without students present.

You might also see other members of our team at the same clinic appointment or be asked to come back and see them at another time. Some of our clinics are led by nurses, dieticians or a speech and language therapist.

What should I expect after clinic?

Unless you request otherwise, you will receive a copy of every clinic letter we write about your child by post.

If your child has had any tests requested by the team during the clinic, we will only contact you if the results are unexpected or require a change to the plan made in clinic.

You will not be contacted with results which are either normal or clinically insignificant. Unless specifically asked to do so by a member of the team. Please do not contact the department for results. You will be informed of your child’s test results in the clinic letter. We aim for this letter to be sent to you and other health professionals within two weeks of the clinic visit but occasionally this can take up to four weeks.

If your child needs any investigations the procedures and expected timeframe for these will be discussed with you in clinic. A member of the team will be in contact with you to confirm the procedure.

How to contact the team

If you need to cancel or change your appointment please contact the clinic as soon as possible so that we can offer it to someone else. If you do not attend your appointment without cancelling it, the Trust has a policy to discharge your child from clinic. If you wish to arrange a further appointment for your child to be seen in clinic, a second referral letter will be required. For more information about the department, the services it provides and the individual team members you can visit this website.