some years ago I used the nhs choose and book facility to get my son a booking with a relevant consultant at a big london teaching hospital which resulted in a diagnosis and treatment. It was a great option that worked.
I don't use the NHS much, but this last year have gone a bit downhill. When I asked for a choose and book today I was told it had changed to 'e-referrals' and you only had the option of choosing what was on the list, and the list would be only what was local to where you lived. The medical secretary said that the c&b option had gone because it was so highly used it threatened to break the nhs - i googled it a few mins ago and the NHS site says it went because so few people used it!. Anyway, I cannot understand the write up of the new service - is the medical secretary right that, now, you can only go where the GP sends you?
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disneylander
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Yup, I know that. But this referral is to a "clinic" - that was the point of my query. Does the "clinic" work like a referral to a hospital consultant?
I’ve had several e-referrals and I’ve been offered hospitals way out of my area, I am pretty rural so obviously not much choice locally but there was still a wide choice. For one referral I wanted a particular hospital which wasn’t on the list so I just told the secretary and she added it. My latest ophthalmology referral came up with no appts available for all but one clinic which was 54 weeks !
Well, I did all the research [to keep my stress levels down] and then rang them back simply saying that I'd like to go somewhere different than the GP had put and could the medical secretary add the place I wanted to go. She said she didn't think she could do that, paused, then said she'd look into it and ring me back. Bingo. 20 mins later she rang back to say it was done and I'd be getting another letter.Looks like this lady simply didn't know what she could do. the concept of this referral having a list from which a patient could choose she didn't seem to have come across - I wonder if she was the same one who patiently explained to me at length, initially, that choose and book had gone because it was overused and people could only go where the GP chose to send them and nobody could go anywhere else ......
knowledge is power.
thanks for everything, I couldn't have done it without your help and advice.
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