Guidance for Referrers - InHealth

Guidance for Referring Clinicians in making a PETCT referralInHealth can accept a referral for any patient from one of the NHS Trusts in thefollowing areas: South West, South Central, South East Coast, East of Englandand East Midlands. A list of referring Trusts can be found on our websitewww.inhealthgroup.com/contract‐service/nhs‐petct‐south‐service/clinicallibraryThe referral must be made by a consultant or specialist registrar.If you want to refer a patient please use the current referral form, it is versionNovember 2012 and can be found on our websitewww.inhealthgroup.com/contract‐service/nhs‐petct‐south‐service/referralformsor by phoning 0845 600 2953.By preference the word version of the referral form should be completedelectronically.If you have not made a referral before you must ensure that your full name,GMC number, NHS Trust name and phone number or email address areincluded on the form. We may need to phone or email you for additionalclinical information about your patient. If we can’t contact you we will emailour query to the designated NHS.net account for your Trust.All referrals for a PETCT scan have to be approved by an ARSAC holder. Youshould forward your referral to your local ARSAC holder to be completedbefore it is sent to InHealth. If you have to send the form to another Trust it ispreferable to send by email as the referral form become very difficult to read ifit is faxed. A list of ARSAC holders is on our websitehttp://www.inhealthgroup.com/contract‐service/nhs‐petct‐southservice/clinical‐libraryIf you need more information to contact the ARSAClicence holder please contact us on 0945 600 2953 or emailinl.petctsouth@nhs.net.

On the first page of the referral form you must give us all the information werequire to contact the patient or their ward to book their appointment. Wealso require information from you in order to understand when and where thepatient should be scanned.On the second page you must give sufficient clinical information for the ARSACholder to be able to approve the indication for the scan and select the correctscanning protocol. The clinical information you provide is also important to thereporter as they will consider the diagnosis and treatment in theirinterpretation of the images and management recommendations. It is alsoimportant to refer to any previous imaging which is relevant to theinterpretation of the PETCT scan. Previous CT reports are usually relevant andwhere possible the reporter will access the previous CT and PETCT imagesusing the NHS image exchange portal.Once the scan has been completed a report will be available within 48 businesshours. This report is sent to the designated NHS.net email account in yourTrust. Your Trust will make the report and the images available for discussionat the appropriate MDT meeting.If your patient’s clinical condition deteriorates after you send the referral andthe scan is no longer appropriate or needs to be postponed, can you please letus know on 0845 600 2953. This will enable us to make that appointmentavailable for another patient and make a new appointment for your patient.Please also inform us of any significant changes to their proposed treatmentregime.If, on the day of the scan the patient cannot be scanned we will contact youand confirm with you if they need to be given a new appointment or if thereferral is to be cancelled.