Whittington Health NHS Trust has updated e-Referral Service (e-RS) following an increase in referrals for gastroenterology and endoscopy being incorrectly sent to the general surgery upper gastrointestinal (GI) service.

To reduce confusion at the point of referral, the Directory of Services description for the general surgery upper GI service has been revised to clearly state that the service does not provide gastroenterology or endoscopy care. This change is intended to support GPs and practice teams in selecting the most appropriate service when submitting referrals.

Referrals for patients requiring: 

• gastroenterology review, or
• diagnostic or therapeutic endoscopy

should continue to be sent via the dedicated gastroenterology or endoscopy referral pathways, rather than to general surgery upper GI. Correct service selection will help avoid referral re-direction, reduce delays in patient care, and improve triage efficiency across services. 

The trust is asking all referrers to review the updated service names and service descriptions carefully when using e-RS and to share this update with colleagues involved in referral management within the practice.

Whittington Health, thanks you for your continued support in ensuring patients are seen by the right speciality at the right time.