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.
For further information, please see our patient information leaflet below.
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
Contact Details
- Ambulatory Care Unit: 020 3299 6261
- Annie Zunz Ward: 020 3299 3437
- Guthrie Ward: 020 3299 3076
Patient information leaflets
| Title | File Size | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Ambulatory Care Unit | 127 KB |
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
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Dr Andres Acosta | Consultant Physician |
| Ms Denise Andrews | Lead Nurse, Acute Medicine and Frailty |
| Mrs Mariama Bah | Senior Sister, Annie Zunz Ward |
| Dr Moya Borja | Consultant Physician |
| Mrs Gail Burgess | Senior Sister, Guthrie Ward |
| Dr Daniel Cooper | Consultant Physician |
| Mr Enzo Dela Cruz | Advanced Clinical Practitioner |
| Dr Amadea Heitmann | Consultant Physician in Acute and Respiratory Medicine |
| Mrs Sarah Hull | Matron, Guthrie Ward |
| Dr Philip Kelly | Consultant Endocrinologist, Acute and General Physician |
| Dr Asma Khan | Consultant Physician |
| Miss Zoi Mizeraki | Advanced Clinical Practitioner |
| Dr Padmini Sastry | Consultant Physician |
| Dr Akash Saxena | Consultant Physician |
| Dr Radha Selvaratnam | Consultant Physician |
| Dr Daniela Sergi | Consultant Physician |
| Dr Vivek Sharma | Consultant Physician and Clinical Lead |
| Dr Robin Sherchan | Consultant in Acute Medicine |
| Mrs Alice Tackney | Senior Sister, Acute Medicine and Frailty |
| Dr Karwai Tsang | Consultant Physician |