Choose and Book
What is choose and book?
Choose and Book is a new service that allows you to choose your hospital and
book an appointment with a specialist, directly from our surgery.
Under the old system, when you and your doctor agreed that you need to see a
specialist, the doctor sent a referral letter to the hospital and the hospital
chose the date and time of your appointment. This may not have been convenient
for you. With Choose and Book, the choice is yours.
Choose and Book gives you:
- A choice of at least four hospitals
- A choice of date and time for your first out-patient appointment
- The ability to plan and manage your appointment around your existing appointments and your other commitments, at home and at work
- The ability to change or cancel your appointments easily over the phone or on the Internet
How does Choose and Book work?
When you and your doctor agree that you need an appointment with a
specialist, Choose and Book presents us with a list of local hospitals that are
available to treat your condition.
We can help you choose a hospital by discussing the options with you, but you
may want to consider a number of personal preferences for example:
- How quickly you can be seen
- How easy it is for you to get to by car or public transport
- Information on quality of care
- The reputation of the hospital
- A recommendation from someone you know
Will Choose and Book make getting an appointment faster?
The current process is that your doctor writes a letter and the hospital
allocates a date. This can take several weeks and the date offered may or may
not suit you. The NHS wants a maximum waiting time of 13 weeks between your
referral and your first outpatient appointment.
Choose and Book will offer you a list of hospitals to choose from, together with
a range of available appointment dates and times within the guaranteed maximum
waiting time. You can then decide to go to a particular hospital, even if it
means you will have to wait longer, or to have an earlier appointment at another
hospital.
If the date or time you want isn't available you will be able to consider
alternative times or different hospitals.
Where can I find out more about local hospitals?
The NHS provides information on each of the hospitals on our local list so
that you can decide which one you would like to use. This information includes
local transport details and whether or not the hospital provides services such
as car parking, disabled access, a visitor canteen or shops.
There are also star ratings or performance standards - these are based on the
information collected to show how health services are doing in relation to some
of the many targets set by the Government for the NHS.
There are a number of ways you can get information to help you decide which
hospital you want to go to:
- Using the Internet go to www.nhs.uk/healthspace If you then select Choose and Book, you can compare information between the hospitals or clinics on your list.
- Download the PDF leaflet Choosing Your Hospital . This leaflet is also available from the surgery.
What if I don't want to make a choice?
We accept that you may not want to make a choice. Some patients will always
prefer the doctor to make the decision for them. Patient choice means respecting
patients who choose not to choose! Your doctor will still be able to book your
appointment via a referral letter, if you prefer. However, we believe that you,
the patient, should have the option to choose for yourself.
If you opt for Choose and Book, your personal details - such as name, address,
date of birth and why you are being referred - will be sent electronically to
your chosen hospital. This referral information will be held and sent securely
and will only be seen by people who are directly involved in your care. Everyone
working in the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.
If you know where and when you would like to be seen, Choose and Book will allow
you to book your first hospital appointment straight away, while you are still
at the surgery, so that you can go home with a definite, convenient appointment
in your hand.
What if I can't make my choice immediately or want to change my mind?
If you don't want to decide on a date and time immediately; if, for example, you want to check with your family, friends or work before booking your appointment, you can do it later from home by:
- Calling the Choose and Book Appointments Line (on 0845 608 8888 or textphone 0845 850 2250 - calls are charged at the local rate and translation services are available).
- Using the Internet www.nhs.uk/healthspace
- Calling your chosen hospital directly.
We will offer you a choice of a number of appropriate hospitals. We will then
print out an Appointment Request letter for you to take home with you. This will
have your appointment reference number, details of the chosen services and
information about how to book your appointment from home using the Choose and
Book Appointments Line, the Internet or by contacting the hospital directly.
If you need to, you will be able to change the date and time of your appointment
quickly and easily over the phone or on the Internet. Again you will need your
password and your appointment reference number to do this.
If you want to change the hospital you have chosen you will need to contact us
to do this, as you will need a new password and appointment reference number.
Can I book all my hospital appointments with Choose and Book?
This isn't available yet.
Although to begin with Choose and Book will concentrate on first outpatient
appointments, the NHS plans to extend the Choose and Book service to include
other facilities such as follow-up appointments so that patients are offered
even more choice.
