What happens to my referral?
Step 1
Your GP (or other Primary Care clinician) refers you for a specialist clinical view.
Step 2
Your GP sends your referral direct to your nearest hospital or via your local Integrated Care Board (e.g. NHS Devon), who will send it to your nearest provider of specialist care. You will receive a letter with further details.
This is when your waiting time starts.
You can think about having your care somewhere else (including other hospitals). Your local Integrated Care Board can advise you and help you transfer your care.
Step 3
If you’re referred to us, we add your referral to our patient record system.
One of our specialist clinicians reviews your referral. They will do one of three things.
Option 1
They will provide advice to your GP (or whoever referred you) about how to manage your health problem.
Your GP will share and discuss this advice with you. You won’t need to come to hospital for an appointment with the specialist.
Option 2
They will add you to our waiting list for an appointment or diagnostic test.
As soon as we can, we’ll contact you to arrange your first hospital appointment. You could wait for a few days, weeks or months. Some patients are waiting for over a year.
Our admin teams work through our waiting lists, booking patients into appointment slots. We do this based on how urgently the specialist clinician thinks you need to be seen and the length of time you have been waiting.
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While you’re waiting Get ready by keeping yourself as well as possible. Sign up to MY CARE to access your appointment details, test results and more once your care with us starts. Please note you won’t see any updates about waiting times in MY CARE. ! If your health problem gets a lot worse before you’ve had your first hospital appointment, you should contact your GP (or whoever referred you). They may contact us to ask if we can see you sooner. If you’re on a waiting list for a while, we will contact you via text message or letter to ask if you still need your appointment. For example, you may have had treatment elsewhere. We will get in touch every 12 weeks. If after 12 weeks we have not been in touch and you want to check that you are still on the waiting list, please contact us using the contact details on your referral letter. You can still transfer your care to another provider. If you transfer, the NHS will keep track of how long you’ve waited. ! If any problems occur after your first hospital appointment, you should contact the relevant clinician or department for advice. If you have agreed with your clinician to have patient initiated follow-up appointments, you will have specific contact details to use. |
Option 3
They will redirect your referral to a different specialist for their view.
Once they have this advice, they will go through these options again.