Rheumatology 

The rheumatology department diagnoses and manages conditions in adults and children which cause painful joints and muscles, for both outpatients and those staying in hospital. Our service works closely with orthopaedics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and podiatry. With over 200 types of rheumatic conditions early diagnosis is vital to ensure correct treatment is given to the patients. This provides the patient with the best opportunity to combat the condition and regain control of his/her life. Our rheumatology department is one of the largest departments of its kind in Kent.

We provide an urgent referral service GPs for conditions such as temporal arteritis. Access this service by calling the main hospital switchboard on 01634 830000.

Conditions treated include:

• rheumatoid arthritis
• psoriatic arthritis
• ankylosing spondylitis, connective tissue disorders (such as lupus, polymyositis, scleroderma and mixed connective tissue disease)
• polymyalgia rheumatic
• temporal arteritis
• gout and pseudo-gout
• osteoarthritis
• back and neck pain
• soft tissue disorders (such as tennis elbow) .

We offer a specialist service for treatment of inflammatory arthritis, including new drug therapy (such as anti-TNF, B cell depletion, anti-IL6, anti IL17, IL-12/23 drugs). For our established patients we offer telephone helpline advice.

Our team consists of Consultants, Associate Specialists and Specialist Nurses.