Service Information

Teledermatology appointment

Before the appointment

If it is possible, please mark your lesion before your appointment to assist our clinical photographers in identifying it. You can ask a family member or friend to help if you need to.

Suitable ways to mark the lesion are:

Place a waterproof plaster next to the lesion and draw an arrow on the plaster in the direction of the lesion concerned
Photograph the lesion on a mobile phone and take the photo along to your appointment

At the appointment

Please bring your reading glasses as we may give you some leaflets to read and there will be paperwork for you to sign.

You will not have a face-to-face consultation with a doctor at this appointment.

At your appointment, we will ask you questions about your medical history. We will ask you about the lesion. Only lesions that are documented on your referral can be photographed during your appointment.

The clinical photographer will explain what photographs need to be taken to assess your lesion before they proceed. If you have any questions about the photography, please do not hesitate to ask the clinical photographer.

You may be asked to remove jewellery or make up where necessary. Depending on the location of your lesion, you may also be asked to remove articles of clothing to gain a better view of the area of interest. If you are required to remove clothing to show a sensitive area of your body, you may request a chaperone.

The clinical photographer will take a series of photographs of your skin lesion. The clinical photographer may use a camera phone and a professional digital camera.

The clinical photographer will photograph:

A general view of the area of interest to establish the location of your lesion
A detailed close up using a specialised lens called a dermatoscope

The dermatoscope allows the clinical photographer to capture a highly detailed image of your lesion. This may be done by pressing gently against the surface of the skin. This should not hurt.

It may not be possible to photograph some lesions using the dermatoscope. This will be explained to you at your appointment.

Images taken on the camera phone or digital camera will be encrypted and electronically transferred, by secure means, so they can be analysed by DERM.

The software will then provide a decision on whether the lesion needs to be seen by a dermatologist at ESNEFT.

Your images will be securely saved and uploaded to your Electronic Patient Record. This central record will allow the dermatology team to assess the report and review your clinical photographs.

The ESNEFT dermatology team will assess if you need further treatment.

Lesions that are not suitable for Teledermatology

Some lesions will not be suitable for assessment by the Skin Analytics DERM technology. This includes lesions that are covered in hair or are under nails.

At your appointment the dermatology nurse will identify any lesion which is unsuitable for DERM analysis.

If this is the case, images of the lesion will still be taken, and the team will still take your medical and lesion-specific history. The only difference is that the images will be assessed manually by ESNEFT.