East Health & Social Care Partnership

Referral to hospital A guide to referral and waiting times

This information sheet tells you about what are experiencing high levels of demand which happens when your doctor makes a hospital make it difficult for them to see people within referral for you. It covers waiting times, 16 weeks. They will send you an appointment changing appointments and who to contact for as soon as they can. Most people start more information. treatment within 18 weeks of the initial referral. Making a referral If the doctor is referring you to hospital, she Your appointment or he will contact the relevant hospital You should be given seven days notice of department shortly after they have seen you. your appointment. At this point, it is really important to make sure that the practice has your current What to do if you can’t make your address and phone number, so that we can appointment or have a query pass on the correct details to the hospital. Please contact the department, using the phone number on your appointment letter, From this point onwards, the hospital will be as soon as you can. Then they can give your dealing directly with you, usually by letter. appointment to someone else and agree a Make sure you know which department and more suitable time with you. which hospital you are being referred to in case you need to get in touch with them later on. Turning down appointments Please remember that if you turn down two Your referral reasonable offers of appointment, the You are being referred to: hospital may send you back to your GP and your waiting time will start again. Department …………………………………

Hospital ………………………………… Going on holiday? If you are waiting to hear about an Date ………………………………… appointment and you are about to go on Urgency ………………………………… holiday, please let the hospital know when you will be away. This allows them to make sure they don’t send you an appointment for Waiting times while you are on holiday. Again, use the The hospital department will try to make contact details on your appointment letter. your waiting time as short as possible. The length of time you have to wait will depend Test or scan results on your condition and the level of demand for These results are received and interpreted by the service. You should receive an the hospital doctor who ordered the test. appointment letter or a letter asking you to Queries about hospital investigations should phone for an appointment within 16 weeks of be directed to the Consultant secretaries at being referred. the hospital. Unfortunately, many hospital departments Health & Social Care Partnership

with the hospital department directly. Worried about how to get to your appointment? Waiting-time guarantees If you need more information about anything The Scottish Government has established to do with your appointment (for example, different ‘Waiting-Time Guarantees’ which how to find the department, transport or set out how long waiting-times should be for access) please phone the hospital using the a range of activities, for example: phone number in your appointment letter.  your first outpatient appointment  tests like endoscopy, CT scan and What to do if the hospital doesn’t ultrasound get in touch after 16 to 18 weeks  treatments, for example, an operation. You can phone the hospital department concerned to see what’s happening with your How to make a comment, referral. Here are some useful contact suggestion or complaint numbers: We welcome all feedback on patients’  Eye Pavilion - 0131 536 3920 experiences of our services and use it to drive  Lauriston Buildings - 0131 536 1000 improvements. You can give your feedback  Roodlands Hospital - 0131 536 8300 to us at the surgery or use our Patient  Royal Hospital for Sick Children – Experience Service. 0131 536 0000  Royal Infirmary – 0131 536 1000 If you would like to make a complaint about  St John’s, Livingston - 01506 523 000 the service that you have received, please  Western General Hospital - 0131 537 1000 contact the NHS Lothian Patient Experience Team. You can do this via a number of These are general switchboard numbers so routes, including: you will need to tell the operator which  in writing department you were referred to, for  by telephone example, orthopaedics, urology, cardiology,  by email etc.  face to face

Please avoid making an appointment with Contact us at: your GP about your referral unless your Waverley Gate, 2 - 4 Waterloo Place condition changes. Our reception staff can EH1 3EG deal with queries but it is normally best to Telephone: 0131 536 3370 or Email: enquire about the progress of your referral [email protected]

Thank you very much

Whitesands Medical Practice July 2019