Referral to hospital

As part of the new National Health Service changes the process of referring patients to hospital is changing

How will we refer you  to specialists?

For patients needing very urgent assessment and treatment and for patients choosing to be seen privately there will be no change  - we will write letters and make phone calls in the time-honoured way.

Urgent and routine national health service referrals will be done using choose and book

See also Ready Willing and Able leaflet

How will choose and book work?

1. When you and your doctor decide a referral is appropriate the Medical Centre will make a referral onto the choose and book system.  This part of the process is computer-based and involves no paper.
2. You will be given 2 sheets of paper on which will be a Patient Contact Centre telephone number, a referral number and a password.
3. If we do not make the appointment at the time of the referral, you must telephone the Patient Contact Centre to arrange a suitable appointment.

That explains "book" but what about "choose"?

The government's stated aim is - "From 1 January 2006, when you and your GP agree that you need to see a specialist, you will be able to choose from at least four hospitals or clinics. In the new "NHS- speak" these are called providers and may be run by the private sector eg The Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre.

You will also be able to choose from a number of available dates and times for your appointment."

Thus, depending on the problem triggering the referral, the doctor who makes the referral may indicate that several hospitals may be able to undertake the treatment.

• Where can I have my treatment
• Choosing your hospitals leaflet

Orthopaedic Referral Facilitation Service

To manage demand for orthopaedic surgery the primary care trust has set up an Orthopaedic Referral Facilitation Service to which we must refer our patients. it will no longer be possible for us to refer to a consultant of our choice.

A general practitioner with a special interest in orthopaedics will review our referrals. For many that will result in our correspondence being passed on to an orthopaedic consultant.  At that stage you will be offered a choice of four or five providers.  For some it may be more appropriate to be seen in an interface clinic where a general practitioner with a special interest under consultant supervision can address the problem. The PCT is working with the consultants within the hospitals to agree referral protocols to ensure all patients are treated appropriately.

What about confidentiality?

When we refer you to other services the referral is administered by the local NHS in a referral management centre.  The referral management centre is responsible for allocating your referral to other services and may see full information about the referral, including any confidential information.  

If your doctor is referring you to other services and you feel there is any information you wish to withhold from the referral management centre please inform your doctor as soon as possible during normal working hours. 

If you experience problems with the referral management centre or wish to discuss its role further please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Last updated 23/12/2008