Changing Hospitals

[tweetyburd]

Has anyone gone through the process of changing the hospital they attend for rheumatology outpatient appointments?

I saw my consultant today & found out that she’s leaving, I’m completely gutted 😭😭 the hospital she’s going to is within a different health authority to where I’m currently treated. She’s happy for me to move with her but I’ll have to put my case forward as to why I want to move hospitals & basically beg for funding 🙏🏻 the one thing in my favour is that my local health board haven’t been able to recruit a new rheumatologist to replace her, they are left with a semi retired consultant to look after 3 lists as there was already a vacant post before my consultant decided to leave!! Any advice would be much appreciated 🙏🏻 xx

[GlasgowHen]

Sorry no advice just wanted to say I know how daunting it is changing drs. This happened to me a few years ago but my new consultant is lovely.

In Scotland it is very difficult to transfer out of your health board area but not sure what it’s like in England.

[Melba1]

Hi, I had exactly the same situation with my rheumatologist who I loved so I just asked my GPs to refer me to her new hospital and it was done very quickly. She laughed when she saw me and said most of her lupus patients had transferred to her.

She was very kind but said I was too severe a case to transfer from a big London hospital to her smaller regional one but that she’d keep me on her books if I needed her advice. I then got to know my new London rheumatologist who is very different to her but has been excellent too. I think we get very attached to the good kind ones and think someone new won’t be as good but once I’d stopped sulking about being abandoned by her I could see all the good points of my new one and I’m now even more attached to him so you might like her replacement in time too!

I’ve just spent a lot of past 2 months in hospital and also got very attached to one of the rheumy registrars who was there nearly every day. I cried when he told me he was leaving the hospital but then his replacement came and spent most of the day with me whilst I was having infusions this week and I definitely really like and will learn to trust him too in time- again just different and new relationship building. I think with our weird bodies and past experience where some drs just don’t understand us, continuity and kindness are so important and when we find one we trust we want them to stay! But often the replacement is just as good or better so hope it works out for you either way xx

[Cas70]

I did this last year - I went to my GP with Consultants name and hospital. Much easier than you think. I think we are allowed under Patients Charter. Just go in and tell GP - it is your right.