Information
for referring doctors
Purpose of the clinic
The Clinic is a registered Medical Charity working in conjunction with St
Bartholomew's Hospital to provide advice on the management and treatment of
migraine to patients referred by the GP, Hospital or Company doctor, as well
as undertaking research into the causes and better treatment of migraine.
Who can be referred?
Patients from any part of the British Isles can be seen as long as they are
eligible for hospital referral under NHS regulations. No charge is made
to the referring GP/Doctor. However, as we are a medical charity our
survival is dependent on patients' donations. We are also happy to treat any
patients who wish to be seen privately.
Although
most of our patients live in London and the Home Counties, patients come from
all over the UK and the rest of the world. The only limit is how far they
are prepared to travel.
Why refer?
We recognise that most GPs are confident about managing migraine and feel
no need to refer to a specialist clinic, unless medication is ineffective
or the diagnosis is uncertain.
But there is little time in an already overstretched surgery to give patients
an in depth account of all potential migraine triggers. Such advice can be
of enormous advantage to the patient — research shows that identifying
and avoiding triggers can more than halve the frequency of attacks. Furthermore
attack therapy is most effective when tailored to individual requirements
— often depending on information obtained from the patient’s diary
of attacks.
Referring your patients to the City of London Migraine Clinic can remove one
of your own headaches. This specialist clinic has the advantage of 30 years
of migraine research and the doctors have time to discuss with each patient
all aspects of their headaches and treatment. All the doctors working at the
Clinic have a specialist interest in migraine and headache and are happy to
see any patient with suspected migraine — not just the difficult cases.
How to refer
A doctor's referral letter should be sent to the Clinic and an appointment
will be sent directly to the patient. A referral letter is also required for
private patients, unless they are resident outside the UK.
What the clinic does
A full medical history is taken from each new patient before they are examined.
Once the diagnosis has been established, the doctor discusses management regimes
with the patient and writes a full report to the referring GP/Doctor. The
Clinic doctors work closely with GPs and it is at the discretion of the GP
to prescribe suggested medications. Recommendations are usually minimal —
our aim is to help patients understand their migraine, often finding non-drug
ways of reducing the frequency of attacks, although effective attack therapy
is always necessary.