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Medical same day emergency care (MSDEC) referrals to Dermatology

This page is intended for use by clinicians at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham as a guideline for referring patients to Dermatology.

How to refer

If a patient needs input from Dermatology, please refer via the following methods:

Emergency

If you think a patient has a dermatological emergency:

Monday to Sunday, 09:00-19:00

Contact the Dermatology SpR via Switchboard and refer via PICS (Requests > Dermatology Referral QEHB).

Monday to Sunday, 19:00-09:00

Refer to the on-call Medical Registrar, admit the patient and make a PICS referral to Dermatology who will review the referral within regular working hours.

Urgent referrals

For urgent referrals from Monday to Sunday (all hours):

  • Refer via PICS (Requests > Dermatology Referral QEHB)
  • Ensure pictures have been taken by the Clinical Photography department or the Secure Clinical Image Transfer (SCIT) app
  • Referrals will be triaged by the Dermatology team and the patient will be contacted within seven days as an outpatient
  • Do not bring the patient back to MSDEC for inpatient Dermatology review
  • Inform the patient that all referrals will be triaged alongside GP referrals and a referral from MSDEC will not take priority over GP referrals
  • Ensure contact details are correct (address and telephone number) and include a telephone number in the referral

Non-urgent referrals

If the patient is already known to the Dermatology team, please email the known consultant and secretary. Otherwise, follow the referral procedure outlined in the urgent category above.

What is required for a referral?

Please ensure:

  • a full medical history has been taken including previous treatments for any dermatological conditions
  • all patients must have photos taken, either via Clinical Photography (if in hours and the patient is happy to return the following day) or by using the SCIT app. Any referral that has no photography will be sent back to the referring doctor to obtain photos before the referral is triaged

Clinical Photography

Please print out a Clinical Photography consent form and complete it with the patient. Guidance on how to complete the form correctly can be found on the Clinical Photography staff intranet pages.

Monday to Friday, 08:00-16:30

  • Place a PICS request (Request > Clinical Photography Referral UHB). If photos are required at a specific time, or more information is required, call the photography team (Tel: ext. 12460)
  • If patient is ambulatory: give the patient the consent form and advise them to attend the photography studio. This is located on Level 0, Main Atrium, QEHB (by Security and Ambulatory Care), on their way out of the hospital
  • Walk in patients will be seen between 09:30-16:30. This will reduce any unnecessary wait in SDEC for photos
  • Where this is not possible, the photography team will come up to the patient, as soon as practical. If photos are urgent, please call the photography team (Tel: ext. 12460) to give more details

Monday to Friday, 16:00-08:00

  • Place a PICS request, then give the patient the completed consent form and advise patient to attend the photography studio the following day
  • If the patient cannot easily reattend the following day, consider using the SCIT app

Saturday and Sunday

  • There is no Clinical Photography service over the weekend
  • Consider using SCIT app or asking the patient to return on the next working day if appropriate

Secure Clinical Image Transfer (SCIT) app

The SCIT app allows staff to upload photos for the Dermatology team to screen and triage the following day along with a PICS referral after the patient is discharged.

The app prevents patients from having to return/wait overnight. There are iPads located within SDEC which have the SCIT app and are available 24/7. A personal SCIT account is required for use.

Please visit the SCIT website to gain access to the app. Please note it can take up to seven working days to obtain access.

All patients will require written consent for medical photographs taken via the SCIT app. Please take a photo of the consent form and upload it alongside the photos of the patient on the SCIT app.

Consent forms and guidance on how to take photos are available on the intranet (you will need to be on a Trust networked device to access the intranet pages):

You can also get the SCIT app on your own device once you have a valid account.

Last reviewed: 04 December 2025