Gastrointestinal

The RHCYP Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (PGHAN) service provides specialist services for Lothian, Fife and the Borders as part of the South-East Scotland Regional PGHAN Network (SESPGHAN).

Further patient-accessible information is available on the RHCYP Children’s Hospital website. There is a GI department page with information

Patients who are already known to the paediatric GI service and under ongoing clinical follow-up (for example, IBD, liver, complex nutrition and coeliac patients) will all have contact numbers or email contact with their appropriate team members and should be encouraged to contact them for specific advice, if not felt appropriate for advice in primary care. Our RHCYP pages are also a good source of information on who to contact.

GI Consultants at RHCYP are:

Professor Richard Russell
Professor David Wilson
Dr Peter Gillett
Dr Paul Henderson
Dr Victoria Merrick
Dr David Mitchell

The service provides:

Acute inpatient management and consultations
Advice only (usually via SciStore or email) as an alternative to OPD visits
Outpatient management

GI rapid access new patient clinics (urgent referrals) – weekly on a Monday
GI routine new patient clinics
Sub-Specialist and General GI review clinics
Endoscopy – diagnostic and therapeutic service
Joint GI/ Paediatric surgery lists

GI diagnostics (pH, pH impedance, high resolution manometry, capsule endoscopy) via RHCYP and RIE GI physiology services
Sub-Specialist Gastroenterology clinics:

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Nutrition/Complex Nutrition
Hepatology
Coeliac disease
Eosinophilic Oesophagitis
IBD and Hepatology paediatric-to-adult transition (RIE, WGH and Fife)
Quaternary Hepatology outreach (with Birmingham Hepatology Team)
Outreach clinics in NHS Fife and NHS Borders

Contact Details

PLEASE NOTE THE EMAILS AND PHONE NUMBERS ARE FOR USE BY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS OR EXISTING PATIENTS WHO WE ARE EXPECTING TO CONTACT US DIRECTLY AND NOT TO BE USED FOR SELF REFERRAL

Daytime Phone

Weekdays, daytime (09:00 – 16:30) urgent advice is via the RHCYP Switchboard (0131 536 1000), bleep 9434 for the GI registrar
Weekdays, daytime (08:30 – 15:30) a message can be left via our secretary on 0131 312 0430

Out of hours Phone

On evenings and weekends the General Paediatric Acute Receiving Unit (PARU) team are available to discuss acute referrals and manage the GI inpatients along with the GI consultant of the week.
Out of hours the main contact is via bleep 9424 for the resident Senior Registrar/ ST on call.
There is an on-call PGHAN service that runs 24/7. The on-call consultant can be reached on 07890 388650

Other Methods of Contact

GPs can seek advice via a SCI Gateway Referral
Our administration email is PaediatricGIAdmin@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk . This can be used for enquiries from healthcare professionals

Regional work and contacts

In addition to services at RHCYP we provide tertiary PGHAN support for hospitals in Lothian, Fife and the Borders.

New referrals should always be discussed and sent to the local DGH to be seen unless specific advice is required from our team.

Colleagues with a special interest in GI at these hospitals are:

Dr Anna Dall, Consultant Paediatrician, Borders General Hospital, Melrose
Dr Andy Mitra, Consultant Paediatrician, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
Dr John Morrice, Consultant Paediatrician, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
Dr Aniela Tybulewicz, Consultant Paediatrician, St John’s Hospital Livingston
Dr Lois Biggerstaff, Consultant Paediatrician, RHCYP
Dr Philippa Wood, Consultant Paediatrician, RHCYP

Other Scottish networks provide support for other regions:

New referrals should always be sent to the local DGH to be seen unless specific advice is required from our team. Any out of area referrals should come from the secondary care team

NoSPGHAN for North Scotland (Tayside, Grampian, Highland, Orkney and Shetland Isles)

WoSPGHAN for West Scotland (Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries and Galloway, Forth Valley, Lanarkshire, Western Isles)

How to refer:

Edinburgh, East and Midlothian

Referrals should be sent via SCI Gateway

Royal Hospital for Children and Young People >> Gastroenterology >> LI Basic Sign Referral

West Lothian

Referrals should be sent via SCI Gateway

St John’s Hospital >> Paediatrics >> LI Basic Sign Referral

Regional Referrals

New referrals should always be discussed and sent to the local DGH to be seen unless specific advice is required from our team (see above for specific contacts).

Triage of Referrals

On receiving a referral, we will triage to urgent or routine, but may decide they are suitable for advice only (this may help expedite management) in which case we will triage to ‘advice only’. There are some cases where we will triage to other services who are felt to be more appropriate for ongoing advice or management (this may include specialist colleagues in general paediatrics, paediatric surgery, other medical or surgical specialist services, and paediatric dietetics) in which case we will inform you and the family.

Guidelines are available for many conditions and are listed below. These guidelines give advice regarding initiating first line investigations and treatment, if required, and may avoid the need for referral and certainly will expedite management.

In each guideline, there is information regarding when a referral would be appropriate – please see the resource section for more detail.