Acute Medicine

What we do

We treat patients who need short-term hospital treatment because of an acute (sudden and severe) illness. We provide rapid specialist assessment and treatment, and see people who need medical rather than surgical care.

Patients are referred to us by the King’s Emergency Department or by their GP.

If you come to the Emergency Department with a medical illness, the Acute Medical team will review you. If you need to be admitted as an inpatient, you will be cared for in one of our Acute Medical wards – Annie Zunz Ward or Guthrie Ward.

If you recover within three days, you will be discharged back to your GP’s care. You may also be given a follow-up appointment at our outpatient clinic, the Ambulatory Care Unit.

If you need to stay in hospital for longer than three days, you will be transferred to a general medical ward at King’s.

We treat most medical conditions, for example: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), pneumonia, cellulitis, urinary tract infections, deep vein thrombosis, and clots on the lung (pulmonary embolism).

Outpatient clinic – the Ambulatory Care Unit
Our specialised outpatient clinic is called the Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU). The ACU is designed for patients who have a medical condition that can be treated without the need to stay overnight in hospital. The ACU is referral-only, and sees patients who:

  • have been referred to us by their GP or by the Emergency Department, because they are medically unwell
  • or who have been treated before on one of our Acute Medical wards and need further review.

Full list of locations

  • Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU): Ground floor, Hambleden wing (co-located with the Emergency Department)
  • Acute Medical Centre, Ground floor, Emergency Department, Denmark wing
  • Annie Zunz Ward: First floor, Cheyne wing
  • Guthrie Ward First floor, Guthrie wing

Location

For further information please contact the Main Reception.

Contact Details

  • Ambulatory Care Unit: +44 (0)20 3299 6261
  • Annie Zunz ward: +44 (0)20 3299 3437
  • Guthrie ward: +44 (0)20 3299 3076

Conditions we treat

We treat acutely unwell medical patients who require a short stay in the hospital. We also treat patients in an ambulatory (outpatient) setting where possible.

GPs should use the Consultant Connect phone line to discuss and refer patients who have a medical illness or diagnosis and who require early review, but not necessarily inpatient admission. They may be seen at our Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU), which provides a consultant-led outpatient service for this group of patients. The aim is to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions while providing excellent and timely patient care.

Some of the diseases we treat include, but not limited to: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease exacerbation, suspected pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, atrial fibrillation (new onset or old), alcoholic liver disease, gastritis, ascites, UTI/Pyelonephritis, and cellulitis.

Booking a patient at King’s

Routine Referrals

We do not take routine referrals, however, GPs can call the Consultant Connect phone line to discuss rapid outpatient review, and for clinical advice or admission avoidance for acutely unwell patients. See the Acute Medicine GP referral pathway for more information.

Emergency Referrals

GPs: Call the Consultant Connect phone line to discuss rapid outpatient review, and for clinical advice or admission avoidance for acutely unwell patients. See the Acute Medicine GP referral pathway for more information.

For referrals to the ACU from King’s: call 37221 to discuss with the ACU consultant.

Key Clinical Staff

Mrs Kel Brockman Advanced Clinical pratitioner
Dr Flaminia Bruno Consultant
Mr Paul Davies Advanced Clinical Practitioner
Dr Elisa Gonzalez Garcia Consultant
Dr Philip Kelly Consultant Endocrinologist, Acute and General Physician
Dr Satnam Lidder Consultant Physician
Dr Viral Patel Consultant Physician
Dr Akash Saxena Consultant in Acute Medicine
Dr Radha Selvaratnam Consultant
Dr Daniela Sergi Consultant in Acute Medicine
Dr Vivek Sharma Consultant Physician and Clinical Lead
Dr Robin Sherchan Consultant in Acute Medicine
Mx Stacy Smith Consultant in Acute Medicine
Ms Heather Toner Senior Charge Nurse
Dr Karwai Tsang Consultant
Dr Michail Vasileiadis Consultant in Acute Medicine