If you have an appointment at one of our hospitals but you are not staying overnight, it means you're being treated as an outpatient or a day patient.
This could be an appointment for treatment, diagnosis or a procedure.
Before your appointment, you'll receive a letter, email or text message, including everything you need to know about your appointment.
The ‘My Planned Care’ section of the NHS UK website shows the average waiting times by speciality for outpatient appointments and treatment. Visit the website https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/east/mid-south-essex/
Please be aware that the My Planned Care website shows the average waiting time for all sub-specialties within the clinical specialities across all three of our main hospital locations. This calculation is based on the data our Trust supplies and it is accurate. However, the average includes clinically urgent patients who will be seen more quickly. Also within each specialty, there will be some sub-specialties with longer waiting times than others depending on the demand for the service and our capacity within the service.
If your GP referred you, book your appointment online through the NHS e-Referral Service at http://www.nhs.uk/referrals or by calling the national appointment booking line on 0345 608 8888 or text 0345 850 225.
To book, you'll need the following information, which your GP will give you:
You can also book an appointment in the GP surgery at the time of your referral.
Book an appointment by calling the hospital number on your referral letter.
If you’re able to, please keep your scheduled appointment. Every missed or late-cancelled appointment means another patient misses the chance to be seen. If you can no longer attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer the appointment to someone else who needs it.
If you were referred through the NHS e-Referral Service, please ring the NHS Appointments Line on 0345 608 8888 or visit the NHS e-Referral Service website at https://www.nhs.uk/referrals.
To cancel or rebook an appointment that we made for you, call the phone number on your letter.
We receive a lot of phone calls from patients and sometimes that causes a delay in answering your call. Please stay in the queue if possible and we will answer as soon as we can.
Alternatively, try using our online chatbot for around-the-clock assistants. It can help you check, rebook, or cancel an appointment, and is often faster at giving you answers to many commonly asked questions.
To use the chatbot:
You should receive at least two SMS text messages from us within 14 days of your appointment, reminding you of your appointment.
The message will be sent from +447488 865 118, giving you the option to rebook or cancel your appointment.
You can only rebook an appointment once. Any further cancellations are subject to a consultant review, and you may be discharged.
Sometimes earlier appointments become available due to cancelled appointments. Ideally, we want to fill all available appointments to make the best use of our clinicians’ time and see patients as quickly as possible.
If an earlier appointment becomes available, you will receive a SMS text message from NHSNOREPLY letting you know. The message will include a web link. You will have up to two days to click the web link, check and book onto an earlier, available appointment.
However, appointments will be rebooked on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if no alternative appointments are available when you click on the web link, it could mean that the earlier appointment has been rebooked by another patient and no alternative appointments are available.
Bring with you:
We strongly advise that you don’t bring any items of financial or sentimental value into the hospital with you. We have very limited secure storage facilities and cannot be held liable for any property lost on our premises.
If you speak little or no English and you would prefer things to be explained in a language you are more comfortable with, we can arrange for you to have a professional interpreter at your hospital appointment.
Visit Patient Experience for more information.
If you need support or information about how to get to our hospitals, you can find out more about each of our sites on the Our hospitals page.
Many of our services offer telephone and video calls to patients as a way of having an appointment without having to travel to hospital.
Find out more at Video appointments.
Your appointment letter will tell you which service you’ll be seeing and where you’ll need to go.
Please make sure you arrive no more than 15 minutes before your appointment time . If you arrive more than 15 minutes after your appointment time you may not be seen.
It is important to tell staff you’ve arrived for your appointment. The receptionist will ask you to confirm your details.
After checking in, you’ll be directed to a waiting area where you will be called for your appointment at the appropriate time.
For guidance on what to ask in your appointment, visit https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/what-to-ask-your-doctor.
It’s really important that you attend your appointment, as missing it can delay your care and may affect your treatment plan. Each appointment is carefully scheduled to ensure you receive the right support at the right time, and when a slot is not used, it prevents another patient from being seen sooner. If you’re unable to attend, please let us know as early as possible so we can offer the appointment to someone else and help keep waiting times down for everyone.
If you miss your appointment, you may not be seen on the same day. Your clinician will decide on the next step, which could include re-booking your appointment or discharging you back to your GP. If you’ve already told us that you can’t make your appointment, we’ll arrange another time with you.
If it is your first new appointment and a second cancellation then we will not re-arrange an appointment, and you will have to get back in contact with us.
If the doctor prescribes you a new or different medication, they will either write and tell your GP about the changes so that they can issue you a prescription, or give you a prescription to take straight to the hospital pharmacy when you leave your appointment.
During your outpatient appointment, your healthcare professional will tell you what happens next with your treatment. You may be discharged from hospital care, or you might need a follow-up appointment.
Please refer to your appointment letter for the telephone number for the team responsible for your booking.
You could also try using our online chatbot for around-the-clock assistants. It can help you check, rebook, or cancel an appointment, and is faster at giving you answers to many commonly asked questions. This more convenient way to get in touch means there’s less need for you to call our contact centres and sit on hold for a long time whilst our team manages the huge volume of calls they receive every day.
To use the chatbot, click on the orange and black speech bubble icon found at the bottom right-hand side of our website. Type your name and click ‘Begin conversation’.
Patients Know Best (PKB) is our online patient system that allows you to view some of your health information online and share it with people who help care for you.
Find out more at Patients Know Best (PKB).