Hepatology

The Trust’s Hepatology Service provides a local, friendly, and patient-focused service for our patient population.

Our service is part of a larger network of trusts within Kent and London that work together to provide a seamless service for our patients. The service is involved with clinical research both at a local and national level.

Our speciality liver team work closely with our partners within the hospital and have formed strong collaborative relationships with our community partners.

The patient is at the heart of what we do and we appreciate all types of feedback to enable us to improve our service.

Our clinics

Our clinics are spread out over the hospital outpatient departments including:

• Area 7 – Level 2, Green Zone (main entrance, turn left at the cross roads)
• Area 8 – Level 3, Green Zone (main entrance, turn left at the cross roads, up one floor)
• Area 5 – Level 2, Purple Zone (main entrance, straight ahead at the cross roads)
• Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) for Fibro scan clinic – Main entrance, Level 2, Blue Zone (in the main entrance on the right, red door)

If you are at all unsure please call our help line for directions 01634 975973.

Your appointment

On the day of you appointment, please head to your appointment area and book in to reception. One of the clinical team will call you into the clinic room. If you are seeing a Hepatology nurse, it is likely you will also have a Fibro scan during your visit. If this is the case, we will let you know prior to your appointment and provide you with a patient information leaflet. This will also be the case if you are attending for the Fibro scan technician clinic in SDEC.

Please note that during the Fibro scan technician visit you will not receive your results, they will be sent out to you once they have been reviewed by the clinical team.

Your appointment will take approximately 30 minutes. The team aim to see you at your scheduled time but due to patient complexity we may be running later than your booking. We will update you if this is the case and ask for your understanding if you are affected.

If you are booked for ambulatory paracentesis (abdominal drain to remove fluid) please attend SDEC as directed by the nursing team.

If you have any concerns then please call 01634 833938 and the nursing team can support.

Our vision for the future

We are now accredited at level 1 for Improving Quality in Liver Services (IQILS) programme and are working towards level 2.

IQIL’s is a national recognised programme that aims to ensure a high standard of liver service provision for our patients. The service will be externally validated by our peers via an ongoing rolling annual review. Your opinion really matters to how we deliver our service and we would welcome your feedback.

We have now set up a clinic in Sittingbourne to provide a service local to our patient population.