Gastroenterology and Hepatology outpatient services in CALHN

The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) provides specialised assessment and care of patients with problems of the gastrointestinal tract and liver, including diseases of the oesophagus, stomach, small and large bowel and the pancreas. 

The Department also has state-of-the-art endoscopic services, a nationally recognised Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) service, a busy viral hepatitis and chronic liver disease service and an internationally recognised gastrointestinal function testing laboratory.

The Department has close functional links with the surgical gastroenterology units: upper gastrointestinal surgery, colorectal and pancreato-biliary that collectively form the centre for digestive diseases.

Contact details

Referrals

General gastroenterology and hepatology referrals
Fax: (08) 7074 6247
IBD referrals fax: (08) 7074 6247

Appointment enquiries

Outpatient area: 1300 153 853

Appointment location

Gastroenterology and liver disease clinics are held in:
Location: RAH, Level 3, Outpatient area
Telephone: 1300 153 853
Fax: (08) 7074 6247

Services and clinics

The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology provides specialised assessment and care of patients with problems of the gastrointestinal tract and liver, in both acute inpatient and outpatient care settings. A letter will be posted to the patient advising their appointment time. Please include patient’s mobile phone details. 

The General Practitioner (GP) or referring doctor will receive a copy of the letter sent to the patient.

Gastroenterology and hepatology outpatients

Clinics are held for patients with general gastroenterological problems as well as for inflammatory bowel diseases, motility or functional gastrointestinal disorders, and pancreato-biliary diseases. In additional to management of general gastroenterological and hepatological conditions, a number of gastroenterologists have the expertise and special interest in providing care for patients with the following conditions:

Liver Disease and Viral Hepatitis

  • Dr E Tse, Dr J Bate, Dr G Nind, Dr M Le Mire*

Gastrointestinal motility, swallowing and functional disorders

  • Prof R Holloway, Dr P Kuo, Prof. J Andrews,

Inflammatory bowel disease

  • Prof. J Andrews, Dr D Hetzel, A/Prof C Rayner

Hepato-pancreato-biliary disorders and interventional endoscopy

  • Dr M Schoeman, A/Prof N Nguyen, A/Prof W Tam

Staff and conditions seen

Monday

1:30 pm to 5:00 pm 

Doctors: 

  • Dr Edmund Tse
  • Dr John Bate
  • Dr Garry Nind
  • Dr Marc Le Mire*
  • Registrars

Conditions - Liver Disease and Viral Hepatitis   

Clinic - Liver disease weekly 

Tuesday

Alternate Tuesdays - 10:40 am to 12:00 pm

Doctors:

  • Prof Jane Andrews
  • IBD Fellow

Conditions seen - IBD especially where Colorectal Surgical input is needed

Clinic -  Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Wednesday

1:30 pm to 5:00 pm

Doctors:

  • Dr Mark Schoeman
  • A/Prof Nam Nguyen
  • Dr Chris Rayner (alt weeks)
  • Dr David Hetzel (alt weeks)
  • IBD 
  • Prof Jane Andrews
  • Dr David Hetzel (alt weeks)
  • IBD Fellow
  • Registrar

Conditions - General gastroenterology

Clinic - IBD Gastroenterology Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Thursday 

9:00 am to 11:00 am and 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm

Doctors: 

  • Dr Richard Johnson (am clinic)
  • Prof Richard Holloway
  • Dr John Argyrides
  • Dr Dylan Bartholomeusz
  • Dr Edmund Tse
  • A/Prof William Tam(monthly)
  • Dr Paul Kuo
  • Registrars 

Conditions - General gastroenterology

Clinic - Gastroenterology

Friday 

8:30 am to 11:00 pm

Doctors: 

  • Dr Edmund Tse – liver disease
  • Dr John Bate Liver disease – Viral hepatitis

Clinic – Liver disease

Bulk bill clinics

Dr Marc LeMire conducts a bulk billed Liver Clinic at the RAH for which the waiting period is approximately 2 months. For referrals to be accepted for this clinic they need to be addressed to Dr LeMire.

Referral process

Immediate referral process – all gastro/hepatology problems

Where consultation is urgent, the gastroenterology (GE) registrar on call should be contacted via the RAH switchboard (08) 7074 0000. Alternatively, if the problem is urgent and the patient is unstable, the patient should be sent directly the Emergency Department of the nearest hospital for assessment.

Less urgent referrals – luminal gastroenterology (not IBD - separate referral process)

Referrals are received in the ambulatory care area and are triaged every 7 to 14 days. If the referral requires more urgent assessment, you should call the on-call GE registrar for advice.

The preferred method of referral is by fax or letter. Please do not send both as this results in duplication and wastes time in triage. If you have concerns, we suggest that you confirm the referral has been received by calling the Outpatient Call Centre on 1300 153 853.

All referrals are triaged. Appointments are offered according to clinical urgency as judged against set criteria. As we receive a greater number of referrals than we can see, some will not receive an appointment and others may incur a significant wait.

For less urgent problems, please consider other options and do not refer to multiple hospitals for the same complaint. In general, we will not see out of area patients unless they have a condition which requires tertiary hospital or expert management. If there are particular reasons you want a patient from outside area to be seen at the RAH, this should be set out in the referral.

Should changes occur to a patient’s medical condition while waiting for an appointment, please either send updated clinical information or where appropriate, contact the GE registrar via the switchboard (08) 7074 0000.

Referrals unlikely to be offered an appointment

Referrals for outpatient appointments from the Emergency Department will not be accepted, unless agreed to during the patient’s initial presentation by the GE registrar on call.

The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology does not provide second opinions for patients already under the care of other gastroenterologists, except in exceptional circumstances, which should be clearly explained in the referral. 

Consultants and registrars of other clinics should consider whether incidental non-life-threatening GE problems could be managed by a patient’s general practitioner and whether the problem merits specialist input in competition for access to scarce specialist resources.

Discharge guidelines and information

Patients whose medical condition has stabilised or resolved and for whom no further appointment has been made will be formally discharged. If further gastroenterological/hepatological assessment is required, a new referral that explains the reason should be faxed to us on (08) 7074 6247.

Gastroenterology clinical information sheets

At the time of triage, only the information contained within the referral is available to the specialist. Consequently, simply requesting review without providing sufficient information about the problem will lead to significant delays in assessing the referral which will most likely be returned to you for more information. In particular, an adequate history and copies of previous investigations such as blood tests, x-rays and endoscopy reports are essential.

The following referral templates of problems commonly referred to gastroenterology outpatients provide the minimum information required for assessing a referral under the headings of eligibility, priority, differential diagnosis, clinical information and investigations required.

All the requested investigations/results for the specific clinical conditions must be addressed in the referral. Gaps in the information will lead to a triage delay.

All the usual general information must also be provided, specifically each patient’s:

  • age
  • social situation
  • general health
  • level of independence
  • comorbidities and mental status being particularly relevant in referrals for older people.

Clinical referral templates have been developed for the following common gastroenterology problems:

General gastroenterology

Liver diseases

Alternative care options

Health information for low-priority conditions while waiting for appointment or if no appointment is made:

Not all patients with gastroenterological or hepatological complaints can be offered appointments in the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) clinics due to limited resources.

Options for obtaining further information are listed below.

Other clinical resources to consider

It is important to note that private referral is an option. Other information is available on: