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General Nephrology Clinics - NSLHD

Royal North Shore Hospital:
3E - Acute Services Building (main entry level) 
Reserve Road
St Leonards
2065

 

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital:
Level 1 - Building 60
Palmerston Road
Hornsby
2077

General Nephrology Clinics - NSLHD

Contact us

Royal North Shore Hospital:

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital:

  • General enquiries: (02) 9485 6777
  • Referrals phone: (02) 9485 6777
  • Fax number: (02) 9485 6069
  • Email: [email protected]

 

We accept ereferrals from GPs via HealthLink. For more information go to: Electronic Referrals for Outpatient Clinics​ - Northern Sydney Local Health District (nsw.gov.au) 

Opening hours

 

Kidney Clinics Royal North Shore:

 

Monday to Friday 7:30 am - 3:30 pm

 

Kidney Clinics Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital:

 

Monday to Friday: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 

 What we do

We provide speciality clinics for patients with kidney disease via the following clinics:

 

•    General Kidney Disease Clinics (Royal North Shore Hospital, Hornsby Hospital) 
•    Renal Supportive Care (Royal North Shore Hospital, Hornsby Hospital) 
•    Vascular Access clinic (Royal North Shore Hospital, Hornsby Hospital) 
•    End Stage Kidney Disease Treatment Options Education 
•    Renal Transplant 
•    Stones clinic 
•    Hypertension clinic 
•    Hypertension and Kidney Disease in Pregnancy 
•    Pre-conception counselling clinic
•    Post partum clinic
•    Renal rheumatology clinic 
•    Renal genetics clinic 
 

 What to bring

•    Relevant images/scans 
•    Relevant test results (including blood or urine tests)
•    List of current medications and drug allergies
•    Your referral letter from your GP/Specialist
•    Your Medicare/DVA Card

 When to visit us

Your GP or non-GP specialist is always your first step in seeking treatment for any condition. You will be referred to our service if your treating doctor feels that your treatment requires the input of a requires the input of a nephrologist or a member of the kidney team. Once we receive the referral it will be reviewed by a doctor and you will be notified of the outcome and next steps. Please allow at least 4 weeks for this process to be undertaken. We see patients either face to face or via telehealth - your specialist will let you know what the best option is for you.   


 
Please note that phone calls from the hospital will appear as a blocked number.  Please answer our call if you can and/or turn on voicemail to allow us to leave you a message.  
 


If you have a scheduled appointment, you will receive a reminder text message.

  
 
Please allow a full morning or afternoon for your appointment. Some patients require a longer review and delays can occur. 

 How to visit us

See here for directions to and around Royal North Shore Hospital. 

See here for directions to and around Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital. 

 Referral information

To ensure that our resources are directed towards those in most need we have a selection criteria to determine what problems can be seen in our clinic. The below information is mainly for GPs and other referring clinicians. 

 

Indications for urgent referral to local Emergency Department:


Anyone with a rapidly declining eGFR and/or signs of acute glomerulonephritis is considered urgent and contact should be made with the on-call Renal physician immediately and the patient referred to the emergency department

 

Inclusion Criteria:

 

Presenting Complaint

When to Refer

eGFR <30ml/min/1.73m2 (stage 4 or 5 CKD of any cause)

Patient comorbidities should be taken into account when referrals are made. Elderly patients when GFR <30 may not need a Nephrology review while younger patients may need referral earlier.

Persistent significant a​​​lbuminuria

Urine ACR>30mg/mmol demonstrated twice within 3 months

Haematuria

Usually refer to urology (see local guidance for referral pathways). If associated with renal impairment, proteinuria, hypertension or family history of renal disease, consider simultaneous referral to the Kidney Clinic.

Sustained decrease in eGFR

A sustained decrease in eGFR of 25% or more OR a sustained decrease in eGFR of 15ml/min/1.73m2 within 12 months

Note: Anyone with a rapidly declining eGFR and/or signs of acute glomerulonephritis is considered urgent and contact should be made with the on-call Renal physician immediately

Hypertensive/CKD disorders of pregnancy

Pre-conception counselling and management Management during pregnancy
Postpartum review

CKD with hypertension or resistant hypertension

Difficult to control despite at least 3 antihypertensive agents or suspected secondary cause of hypertension

Renal stones

2 or more renal stones

Renal transplant patient

All renal transplant patients should be regularly seen by a Nephrologist

Renal transplant donor

All past transplant donors and potential donors should be seen by a Nephrologist

Patient with ESKD opting for a non dialytic supportive care pathway

Patients for renal supportive careshould be referred to a Nephrologist initially

Dialysis patient

All dialysis patients should be regularly seen by a Nephrologist

 

Out of NSLHD:


•    Reason must be stated explicitly  
•    Resident of other LHD that does not provide the clinical service 
•    Continuing care of existing condition already managed by NSLHD 
•    Demonstrated complexity requiring services of NSLHD 
•    Compassionate circumstances, e.g. family, proximity, staff 

 

A referral from GP is required to make an appointment for a clinic. The following information must be included for referral to be accepted:

 

•    Date and duration of referral (referrals accepted for either a 12-month period or indefinite)
•    Referrer's name, address, provider number and signature
•    Patient's details - name, date of birth, address, phone numbers, Medicare number/Department of Veteran Affairs number
•    Provisional diagnosis and reason for referral
•    Finding/treatment to date
•    Significant medical history
•    List of medications
•    Relevant social information
•    Need for interpreter and preferred language
•    If applicable, the most recent letter from any other physician, e.g. Cardiologist

 

Some of the following tests may be required before an appointment is made:

•    Blood chemistry and haematology
•    Urinary Albumin/creatinine ratio and urine microscopy for red cell morphology and casts
•    Renal tract ultrasound

 

Providing more information will aid the triage process and make it more likely that your patient will be seen in the most timely manner possible. 

Please submit referrals using the eReferral system through HealthLink, which can be accessed through most clinical software systems.

 

Referrals will be triaged and your patient will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible. This process may take between 1-4 weeks. You will be contacted if more information is needed.  

 

Telehealth services are available, please indicate on the referral if you feel this would be suitable for your patient’s appointment.
 

 Other information

 Related links

Medical
 
Dr. Amanda Mather, Head of Department Renal Medicine
Dr. Amanda Siriwardana, Specialist Renal Physician
Dr. Brendon Neuen, Specialist Renal Physician, Director clinical research unit
Dr. Bruce Cooper, Specialist Renal Transplant Physician, clinical lead peritoneal dialysis
Prof. Carol Pollock, Professor of Medicine, Specialist Renal Physician
Dr. Emma O'Lone, Specialist Renal Physician, clinical lead haemodialysis
Dr. Jeffrey Nutt, Specialist Renal Physician, clinical lead satellite haemodialysis, HKH
Dr. Paul Collett, Specialist Renal Physician
Dr. Sara Rendo, Palliative care physician, Renal supportive care
Dr. Sarah Roxburgh, Specialist Renal Physician, clinical lead Renal supportive care
Dr. Stefanie Stangenburg, Specialist Renal Physician
Dr. Stella McGinn, Specialist Renal Transplant Physician, clinical lead Renal transplant
Dr. Susan Wan, Specialist Renal Transplant Physician
Dr. Yan Li, Specialist Renal Transplant Physician
Dr. Yvonne Shen, Specialist Renal Transplant Physician, clinical lead Home haemodialysis
 


Nursing
 

Ellie Borrell, Nurse Manager, Department of Renal Medicine
Belinda Henderson, Treatment Options CNC
Suh Wong, Supportive Care CNC
Lucy Spencer, Nurse Practitioner HD
Amy Strange, NUM Acute Dialysis
Joseph Morada, NUM SDC, PD
Louise Patel, HD CNC
Aphrodite Stathis, Dialysis Access Nurse
Robyn Waring, Renal Transplant CNC
Jessica Harvey, Donor Work up Nurse
Claire Fan, Hypertension Nurse
Chelsea Boland, Renal Ward NUM
Helen Clayton, Research Nurse
Dawn Ngai, Research Nurse
Anna Tam, Research Nurse
 
Allied Health
 
Teresa Tyacke
, Supportive Care Social Worker
Emily Mahony, Renal Social Worker
Murielle Ryan, Supportive Care Dietician