Dermatology Department

Professor Murrell is Head of the Dermatology Department at St George Hospital since 2004.  Professor Murrell graduated from Oxford University Medical School and trained in medicine and dermatology in the UK and USA as well as in Sydney.  She holds doctorates from UNSW and Oxford Universities for her research.

Professor Murrell runs a clinical trial centre for skin diseases and lectures globally on autoimmune and genetic skin diseases.

Dr Lara-Rivero is an overseas-trained Dermatologist fully qualified by the Australasian College of Dermatologists and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency who works as a consultant dermatologist in private practices across Sydney and the public practice is based in St George Hospital. He is involved in educational activities for medical students, overseas-trained dermatologists and post-graduate medical officers.

Dr Lara-Rivero has published articles in local and international peer-reviewed journals and has also presented at local meetings for fellow dermatologists and GPs. His areas of interest include medical dermatology, urticaria, eczema, contact dermatitis and patch testing, and male genital dermatology.

 

Wednesday Afternoon:  13.00 - 16.00 (a paediatric dermatology clinic occurs once a month)

Friday Morning: 08:00 – 12:00 (alternating between outpatient clinics and clinics for biopsies run by the trainee)

 

Conditions treated at St George Hospital include, but may not be limited to:

• Moderate to severe inflammatory acne (when the lesions are numerous, leaving bad scarring and / or post-inflammatory pigmentation)
• Hair loss (excepting male or female pattern hair loss). Intralesional corticosteroids for alopecia is not currently performed in our department
• Eczema / dermatitis: including atopic, seborrhoeic, contact (irritant and allergic). Patch testing for allergic contact dermatitis is not being currently performed in our department
• Chronic urticaria (>6 weeks of symptoms)
• Psoriasis
• Pigmentary disorders such as vitiligo
• Skin cancers (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma). Please attach of the corresponding biopsy report to the referral
• Nail disorders (except for tinea / fungal infection) - a negative nail fungal microbiology report must be attached to the referral for this purpose
• Genital rashes where a sexually-transmitted infections has been ruled out (a negative STI screening must be attached to the referral)

Exceptions – conditions or patients not managed by the department

This service does not offer treatment for the following:

• Patients being treated for the same condition at another NSW hospital (special arrangements can be made for children under 18 years of age via CARS - Children Acute Review Service)
• Routine skin checks (only provided for high-risk patients e.g. solid organ transplant patients or with more than 5 skin cancers). Refer to the NSW Health and SESLHD supported skin cancer service at Integrated Specialist Healthcare Service: https://ishc.org.au/find-a-service/skin-cancer/
• Venous ulceration and venous ulcers (refer to Vascular Surgery)
• Sexually transmitted diseases (refer to ID)
• Cosmetic Conditions and Treatments (post-acne scars or pigmentation, post-inflammatory pigmentary changes, facial rejuvenation, superficial varicose veins, wrinkles, lipodystrophy or lipoatrophy, among others)
• Seborrhoeic keratoses
• Laser Dermatology
• Warts (for warts that have persisted for more than 6 months despite treatment, please specify in the referral the number and type of treatments that has been used)
• Blistering diseases (to be referred to Prof Murrell Bullous Diseases clinic in her Kogarah private rooms)

Please keep in mind that due to a very high demand of our services, failure to attend to the appointments more than once will make the patient to be discharged back to their treating GP. If the patient's condition requires it, the referring doctor will re-send a new referral and the referral will be re-triaged. For the same reason, unless the patient has multidisciplinary care at SGH, we are no longer accepting patients outside of our catchment area

The process for referring a patient is:

1. GP/referrer to send through referral via Fax 02 9113 2297 or Email seslhd-stg-opd@health.nsw.gov.au
2. The referral will be checked to ensure it is valid. If not valid then extra information will be sourced from the referrer
3. If valid the referral will be triaged by dermatology clinic doctor
4. Appointment made as per doctor's recommendation
5. Patient notified by confirmation letter as well as a text / call 1 week prior to appointment

A valid referral requires:

1. Written by a medical practitioner in a private practice or an SMO
2. Written to a named doctor within the clinic
3. Signed and dated by referring practitioner and include their Provider Number and place of practice
4. Include length of referral, unless it is a 12-month referral
5. Patient to have signed financial consent form
6. If an interpreter is required
7. If it is for further follow up, please specify the condition for which the patient has been attending our department

All referrals are prioritised and allocated according to criteria.

You can contact us by telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450.

Tell the operator what language you speak, and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and us on 02 9113 2513.