987 Inclusion Health

CamdenIslington

Many Inclusion Health (IH) patients struggle to attend the Emergency Department (ED) due to the long delays waiting to be seen, which can often trigger withdrawal symptoms and other issues. To combat this the IH team at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) have set up the 987 initiative, so-called because email referrals should have '987' in the subject line to make it easier to find them. 

987 is a route for patients to attend University College Hospital's (UCH's) Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit (AECU) for assessment by the IH team.  This is the same level of AECU service available to healthcare professionals in the community for their patients, but referring direct to the IH team with their expertise in IH patients, who often struggle when referred to standard services.

Please note: This is a planned attendance and must be arranged by the UCH team and a time agreed with the referrer. To access 987 please email Dr James Norman at his NHS.Net account (JamesNorman1@NHS.Net) with the completed referral form (attached). Dr Norman will book the patient into UCH AECU and confirm the time and date with you (the referrer) for the patient to attend. 

On the day, the patient attends the ED at UCH but is directed to AECU at the main reception. In AECU they'll be seen by the AECU nurses (usually within 15-30 minutes as standard for AECU patients) who perform the requested blood tests and other simple assessments, before contacting Dr Norman who then sees the patient and performs a more thorough evaluation, with a particular focus on the acute issue. From there, Dr Norman can arrange same day tests, if possible, or even admission if necessary.  

To learn more about this initiative, contact Dr Norman, IH consultant at UCLH directly (see Service Feedback).
 


Eligibility Criteria

Inclusions

IH patients, meaning over 18s who:

  •  are homeless
  •  use, or have used, class A drugs
  •  are on methadone/buprenorphine
  •  struggle with persistent alcohol misuse
  •  are undocumented migrants
  •  have other issues that mean they may have been excluded from good quality healthcare in the past.

How to Refer

IH consultant James Norman and team

To access 987, you can contact James Norman directly via his NHS.Net email with the completed referral form below. James and the team will then book the patient into SDEC and confirm the time and date with you for the patient to attend.

EMIS form

Referral methods: Email

Complete the 987a Elective Attendance to UCH SDEC Referral Form and send to jamesnorman1@nhs.net

Where to find the form

  • Camden: Camden Global Documents > Alcohol-Drugs-Smoking-Diet-Exercise-Lifestyle
  • Islington: ISL Global Libraries > Alcohol & Substance Misuse folder

Locations

UCLH

Service Feedback


Downloads



Review date: Saturday, 20 September 2025