For GPs, hospital specialists and community health facilities — how to refer, who we see, waiting times, and what to send with the letter.
Referral guidanceFor patients already known to Groote Schuur Rheumatology — which clinic day is yours, and the number to call to rebook a missed appointment.
Appointments & clinicsAll new referrals to rheumatology need to be made through Vula: one of the rheumatology team will triage the urgency of the appointment and your patient will be contacted (usually via sms) with a date for review in D6 on a Monday morning.
Get the Vula app01
Inflammatory arthritis
Including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritis.
02
Connective tissue diseases
Including SLE, systemic sclerosis, inflammatory myositis.
03
Gout
Particularly if polyarticular poorly controlled or complicated gout.
We do not routinely follow-up osteoarthritis, mechanical backache or fibromyalgia but are happy to review these patients if diagnostic uncertainty.
One of the rheumatology team reviews every referral and assigns it an urgency. Your patient is contacted directly — usually by sms — with their appointment date.
Routine
4–7 months
Please note that we are very fully booked, and there is unfortunately a 4-7 month wait to be seen as a new patient.
Semi-urgent
2–3 months
Semi-urgent referrals (recent-onset inflammatory arthritis, connective tissue diseases) will be offered a date in 2-3 months where possible.
Urgent
Discuss on call
Urgent referrals (sick inpatients and patients with organ-threatening disease) should be discussed with the rheumatologist on call (contact GSH switchboard).
Please provide a comprehensive referral letter, including provisional diagnosis, details of current medication, and legible name and contact details of referring clinician.
Sending these results with the referral letter helps us triage accurately and means fewer repeat visits for your patient.
Please avoid corticosteroids before the appointment
Please avoid starting patients on corticosteroids before their rheumatology appointments: use simple analgesia, +/- NSAIDs if necessary, so that synovitis is not masked by steroids. Phone the rheum on call to expedite an earlier appointment if swelling and pain significant.
Patients known to GSH Rheumatology who have missed their appointments are welcome to reschedule their dates for a Tues/Thurs/Fri follow-up clinic.
Patients who are known to Groote Schuur Rheumatology but have missed their appointments need not be referred to a Monday “new patient” appointment but should phone to make an appointment on the clinic day they previously attended (Tues for Lupus, Thurs or Friday for Arthritis).
We are unable to see patients without an appointment: patients with new problems are asked to present to the Day Hospital, who will contact rheum if urgent admission or review is required.
Patients seen by GSH rheumatology who have been discharged from our care will need to be referred back to us via Vula (with reasons why you would like them to be reviewed again). Please note that we do not routinely follow-up fibromyalgia syndrome or osteoarthritis patients: we tend to see them, confirm the diagnosis, educate them and formulate a treatment plan with them and then discharge them (with a letter) back to primary health care or family medicine teams.
Talk to our rheumatology sister or doctors at the outpatient clinics.
Monday
New Patient ClinicWard D6
Tuesday
Lupus ClinicH58
Biologic Clinic3-monthly, 13.00D6
Thursday
Arthritis ClinicH58
Friday
Arthritis ClinicH58
Where to find us
Rheumatology office J47.24, Old Main Building, Groote Schuur Hospital
Groote Schuur Hospital switchboard
Also how to reach the rheumatologist on call
D6 clerical team
Monday new patient bookings and Biologic clinic bookings
Rescheduling a missed appointment
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday follow-up clinics
Sister Mack
Rheumatology sister
Mrs. Amelia Lawrence
Rheumatology secretary
Referral criteria, treatment guidelines, handbooks and recorded seminars are gathered in the resource hub for healthcare workers.
Visit the resource hub