Welcome to Brighton & Sussex Dermatology Service

COVID-19

We are facing the biggest challenge to NHS services in Peace time and the dermatology service has had to make some urgent changes to keep vital parts of our service running whilst we cope with staff shortages and redeployment to support the acute hospital.We will only be seeing Two Week Wait cancer patients and Urgent appointments as face to face consultations. This is in order to reduce the risk of any infection for you and for us to prioritise the most urgent patients. With the exception of phototherapy, patch testing and our specialist vulval and hair clinics, we will be trying to maintain all other routine dermatology new appointments and follow ups as virtual appointments. Where possible we will use videoconferencing using your phone, iPad/tablet or computer. Alternatively, we will contact you by phone with the number we have on record for you.Please be aware that virtual clinics may also overrun as face to face clinics do. Please also be reassured that if at the time of the virtual consultation the team feel that you would benefit from a physical review this will be arranged.
We will be asking patients with a skin lesion to photograph and submit those to us following specific instructions and guidance that will be issued to you. This will be managed by our teledermatology service and we will write to you with the outcome and book any further treatments or interventions based on clinical need.You do not need to do anything more at this stage unless your circumstances have changed and you need to change your appointment, in which case please email us on [email protected]Please try to refrain from phoning the dermatology department unless it is really urgent as all our staff, including our administration staff and secretaries, are stretched trying to implement these urgent changes. Thank you for your support with this.We hope that this is of some reassurance to you and we will advise you of future plans for later appointments going forwards. Please do not come to the hospital if you have persistent cough or fever or have been in contact with anyone with these symptoms

Patient Information

Photo Guidelines

Skin Lesion Form

Brighton and Sussex Dermatology Service is a new, patient focused service for patients in Brighton & Hove. The service provides assessment, diagnosis and treatment of skin conditions at several sites in Brighton & Hove and Sussex.

The service will benefit from a brand new dedicated office and administrative team to manage all patient bookings, GP correspondence and telephone enquiries. The clinical team has also expanded significantly which will enable us to reduce the waiting-times for patients and provide an excellent level of service.

Our clinics are led by Consultant Dermatologists with expertise in dermatological surgery and skin cancer management. Our Consultants also work alongside several Doctors who have specialist training in Dermatology and Nurses who have many years of experience in this field.

Having several clinic locations around Brighton & Hove and Sussex enables the service to focus on making appointments convenient for patients, whilst they still receive the highest standard of care from the very best Dermatologists.

The dermatology department is involved in the recruitment of patients for clinical research studies as well as medical student and junior doctor tuition.

We invest a great deal of resources into our whole team, which allows us to offer a one-stop service for skin cancer management for many patients; this includes performing diagnostic biopsies and treatments on the first visit. Efficient use of our doctors and nurses enable us to keep our waiting list times down.

Suspected skin cancer referrals are seen urgently within dedicated clinics and always within a two week time frame. If required, day surgery can be organised at two sites; Brighton General Hospital or Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. The location of the surgery depends on the complexity of the case and we also take the patient’s personal preference into account.

We appreciate the importance of effective communication and always ensure our patients are well informed. We invite patients to use our Patient Helpline should you have any worries or concerns and we always welcome feedback relating to any aspect of your care.

Our Clinic Locations:

  • Brighton General Hospital
  • Princess Royal Hospital
  • Princess Alexandra Children’s Hospital
  • Lewes Victoria Hospital
  • Carden Surgery
  • Mile Oak Medical Centre