During your appointment

Your appointment can last from 20 minutes to a few hours. We often schedule your diagnostic tests and your first appointment on the same day, so make sure you’ve read your appointment letter thoroughly and set aside enough time.

Please arrive at the clinic 10 minutes before your appointment is due to start so you can check in at the reception desk.

Questions and consent

A lot can happen during your appointment, test or stay with us. We’ll ask you for your consent before we do anything, so it’s really important you understand the treatment options. If you have any questions, please just ask.

It might also help to write down what was said during your visit. If you have a learning disability, we have some useful templates you can download and fill in.

Help for people with learning disabilities

Clinic waiting times

We want to get you seen and on your way as quickly as possible.

  • sometimes delays do happen, we will let you know if you need to wait longer.
  • your appointment may start a little later because the previous patient has taken longer than expected or your doctor might be called away on an emergency.
  • sometimes, a patient who arrived after you might be seen before you – don’t worry, it’s likely they’re seeing a different member of staff.

Who will I see?

Depending on your appointment type, you will be seen by different healthcare professionals:

  • a consultant, or a member of their medical or surgical team
  • a nurse practitioner, specialist, or midwife
  • Allied Health Professionals, such as therapists, phlebotomists or radiographers
  • we run training hospitals, so medical, dental or nursing students may be present during your visit – tell us if you prefer not to have trainees present
  • if you’d like to be seen by a male or female doctor, let us know when you arrive.

We all wear name badges, we’ll introduce ourselves when we meet and we’ll let you know why we’re here. If you’re not sure who a member of staff is, please just ask.

Smoking

Remember, smoking is banned on hospital grounds.Visit we are smoke free for help and advice.

Other information

Here is some more information that may help with your visit to our hospitals

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