Useful information about working in Dermatology

Who to call

• Dermatology Registrar via the Contact Centre.

• There is always a ward registrar on call and an after-hours Registrar to discuss referrals and/or give advice. Available between 8am and 10pm for Auckland City Hospital in-patients 7 days of the week including public holidays.

• Dermatology Department – to speak to the nursing team at Greenlane Clinical Centre.

• If you require an inpatient review, please ring us to discuss the patient. We are only onsite at Auckland Hospital from 0800-1030h on most days as we have clinics at GLCC in the afternoons. All referrals therefore need to be made the previous afternoon or as early as possible in the morning.

• You can also send an e-referral to Dermatology on RCP and this is encouraged. Please also send photographs with your referral as this helps us immensely with triaging your referral.

• When sending a photograph, it would be preferable to send an overall photo so that the distribution of the rash can be seen as well as a few close up photos of the rash to appreciate its morphology.

• All e-referrals for lesions must be accompanied by a photograph. These will be triaged to an outpatient clinic.

When to refer

(see Policies and Guidelines - Dermatology (hanz.health.nz) )

Urgent: dermatological emergencies as listed below.

Acute: in-patients with dermatological conditions related to current admission or directly affecting their care or where review may shorten hospitalisation.

Outpatient: biopsy proven skin cancers on the head, neck or legs or in immunocompromised patient, pigmented lesions suspected as melanoma, longstanding dermatoses where management is complicated or diagnosis is unclear. All referrals for suspected skin cancers must be accompanied by clinical photographs and sent via e-referral.