Referrals
A note on the cases I accept, my scope, and how to refer a patient.
There are a number of approaches that can genuinely improve a person's health, and the one I work with is one of them. I am happy to work alongside other medical professionals and other practitioners when it helps the patient get a real result. Wherever I am seeing the patient from, the goal is the same: what is best for the person in front of us.
Where this approach tends to help
My approach tends to help most when the medical workup is complete, the psychological work has made progress but not yet delivered the result the patient actually needs, and physical and psychological symptoms are deeply intertwined. This is often where chronic patterns sit: in the nervous system, the stress response, and the way the body has learned to hold tension over time.
It is also where standard care may have done the important work of excluding serious pathology, stabilising risk, and providing appropriate treatment, while the patient still carries a persistent functional, somatic, or nervous-system pattern that needs another layer of support.
- Patients on appropriate psychiatric or psychological treatment with persistent somatic load
- Chronic pain patients who have exhausted pharmacological and interventional options
- IBS, functional dyspepsia, and chronic gut symptoms with normal or stable gastroenterological investigation
- Post-viral, post-illness, and long-tail recovery presentations
- Stress-related multi-system presentations in high-functioning patients
- Patients with multiple specialists involved and no single coordinated plan
Out of scope, and how I work with prescribing clinicians
I don't take on patients who
- Require acute, emergency, or inpatient care
- Are looking for a single-modality intervention better delivered elsewhere
Coordination with prescribing clinicians
For patients on medication who want to consider reducing or stopping it, I prefer to work in coordination with the prescribing clinician. I find this gets a better result for the patient and a more honest picture for everyone involved.
I do not ask patients to stop prescribed medication, delay indicated investigations, or avoid specialist care.
Fit and safety are reviewed before any treatment begins. If a case sits outside my scope, I'll tell the patient directly.
How I work alongside you
My work targets the physiological and somatic layer: the nervous system, the breath, the stress response, and the way the body has learned to hold tension over years. The mind-body techniques I use are drawn from Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and are applied through mechanisms that overlap with current literature on autonomic regulation, interoception, attentional shift, and body-based modulation of threat responses.
At intake
With the patient's consent, I share a clinical summary of the working formulation and the proposed plan.
At checkpoints
I update at meaningful clinical milestones, particularly when something material changes in the picture.
Escalation back
If the case shifts or conventional intervention becomes appropriate, I escalate back to you without delay.
This can run alongside any medical or psychological care the patient is engaged in.
What I measure
Sleep, energy, mood, pain, anxiety, mental clarity, spiritual wellbeing and overall quality of life are tracked from intake, using validated questionnaires and reviewed at key clinical checkpoints.
If you've referred a patient, I'm happy to share progress on these measures with you, with their consent.
How to refer
Three options, in order of what I find most useful for genuinely complex cases.
Discuss a case first
For complex or borderline presentations, I'm happy to have a brief informal conversation before any referral is made. This usually saves the patient a wasted appointment and helps you decide whether this is the right next step.
Refer directly
WhatsApp is the fastest way to reach me. A brief clinical summary or context note is helpful but not required. I'll reply within one working day and confirm whether the case is a fit.
Share my contact with the patient
If you'd rather the patient initiate, ask them to mention you when they get in touch. I'll loop back with you, with their consent, once we've decided whether to proceed.
All three routes carry the same priority. WhatsApp is preferred for response time.
Direct line for colleagues
Refer or discuss a case
Replies within one working day where possible.
Serenity Holistic Medical Clinic
48B, Triq il-Ghajn, Swieqi, SWQ 3122, Malta
Dr Shehan Wijesingha
M.D. · M.TCM · BMedSci · DipAP · CPT
- Master's in Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Ayurvedic Practitioner
- Vice President, Association of Ayurvedic Professionals UK