Good London rheumatologist?

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Elmbow
Elmbow Member Posts: 80
edited 7. Feb 2019, 09:56 in Living with arthritis
Hi. Can anyone recommend a good rheumatology department in south-west London?

Anywhere but xxxx.
Name removed by Moderator to keep in line with our Terms and conditions

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  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,713
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    We aren't allowed to name docs for good or ill. Generally speaking, you will get better docs and treatment in teaching hospitals but you will therefore have longer to wait for everything.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • Elmbow
    Elmbow Member Posts: 80
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I am currently at a teaching hospital and it's awful.
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I think the biggest challenge with building any relationship is whether the characters involved are compatible. I have had three rheumatologists, the first was coasting towards retirement and airily dismissed me, the second was good but distant (adored by many though) my current one is OK. I wouldn't choose to have dinner with any of them, what matters is how they behave, how much time they give in appointments, how they answer questions etc. It certainly helps if you feel drawn to them as people but we cannot like everyone all the time, likewise they won't necessarily like us. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Elmbow
    Elmbow Member Posts: 80
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    To be honest it isn't the individual doctors who are the problem. I've seen five and liked a couple of them*. It's the department as a whole and the way it is run. Because care is about more than the 15 minutes you spend with a consultant every six months. The fact my last five appointments have been with five different consultants should hint at the omnishambles that is this department.

    *By 'like' I mean I was happy to have them treating me, not that I want to have dinner with them :wink:
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,713
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Difficult, but not at all unusual. I started seeing rheumatologists in about 1969. I saw the same guy until he retired then did the same with his successor. Then it got far more 'bitty'. I think rheumatology departments are just so pushed these days people come and go, maybe because, like so many other people, they're on short contracts. You could end up jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. I hope not.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    When I began I would see the consultant once every six months, alternating with a rheumatology nurse every six months so I was seen four times a year. Now it's roughly every fifteen months with a nurse, I cannot remember the last time I saw the consultant. I think this reflects the pressure that rheumatology, as a hospital department, is now under; more people are being referred more quickly and unlike other departments rheumatology very rarely says good bye.

    I am sure there are many good rheumatologists out there but if you want a quality appointment private may be the way to go. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
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