If you need advice between your Rheumatologist appointments, remember that most hospital’s have a Rheumatology nurse. These are specialist nurses who are available to give advice most days by telephone, for subjects as diverse as: pain management, drug side effects and test results. This link to the Arthritis Research website explains what the Rheumatology Nurse does.

If you haven’t come across the Rheumatology Specialist nurse before, you may not be aware of how helpful and reassuring they can be. Most have a telephone service that you can call and leave a message on and they will then usually get back to you within 24 hours. St Thomas’ Lupus trust also have an online nurse who can advise you by email, although this can take a few days for a reply.

If the nurses aren’t able to answer your query themselves, they’ll check with a consultant first and get back to you.

Rheumatology Nurse Specialist contact numbers:

Royal Sussex County Hospital 01273 696955 X4354

St Thomas’ Lupus Trust online nurse Angie Barwick answers questions by email twice a week (everyone)

St Thomas’ Specialist Nurse 020 7188 3549 (for St Thomas’ patients)