GP case study: Teledermatology

Dr Shehla Anwar, an AT Medics GP in Southwark CCG, discusses how she uses Photo Advice & Guidance, via the Consultant Connect App, to get local specialist advice.

Dr Anwar works at Silverlock Medical Centre in Southwark CCG. The surgery has had access to Photo Advice & Guidance, provided by Consultant Connect and commissioned by the CCG, since July 2018. Dr Anwar has been a GP for 7 years and uses the service to contact specialists at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

When asked what she thought of Photo Advice & Guidance, Dr Anwar said:

“Photo Advice & Guidance (via the Consultant Connect App) is an excellent tool. It takes seconds to upload a photo with a patient’s consent and to send to the Dermatology Team for Advice & Guidance. There’s also a useful option to write some brief background information to send with the photo(s).”

Dr Anwar uses the service often, she says:

“I’ve had advice for many clinical issues using Photo Advice & Guidance.”

Below is an example of a recent clinical issue regarding a child with a body rash and a history of eczema that prompted Dr Anwar to use Photo Advice & Guidance.

Dr Anwar’s patient was a child with an itchy body rash and a history of eczema. As Dr Anwar was “unsure if this rash was eczema or something else,” she used Photo Advice & Guidance via the Consultant Connect App to take clinical pictures of her patient. These pictures were shared immediately with the Dermatology Team at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust by clicking the ‘share a photo’ option on the app.

How Photo A&G helped:

Dr Anwar said: “I had a written response from a local consultant dermatologist the very next day. The consultant dermatologist diagnosed the rash to be chronic eczema with lichenification and follicular morphologies and wrote a detailed treatment plan for the patient.”

When asked what happened to the patient as a result of using Photo Advice & Guidance, Dr Anwar said:

“The patient was provided with the correct treatment plan early on. They did not need to wait for a dermatology hospital appointment – a potential hospital referral was avoided.”

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