You may be asked to attend a little earlier for tests or investigations e.g. x-rays, before seeing the doctor.

Preparing for your appointment

There are a few items we suggest you bring with you:

• Your appointment letter or appointment card
• Information about you; including your address, your GP’s address and for children, their school address.
• You will be asked about your previous medical history, so it’s a good idea to make short notes on information you think is helpful before you come to clinic including a list of the medicines and allergy treatments; the names of the medication, what you’re taking it for and how often you take it. This includes anything prescribed by your GP, medicines bought over the counter at a pharmacy, herbal and homeopathic remedies. You may also find it useful to make a note of questions you want to ask.
• A pen and paper – it may be useful for you to make notes about anything the doctor says in the clinic so you can be clear about what has been discussed later.

Remember to leave plenty of time to travel to the location and find your clinic. If you are not sure where to go please ask at the reception desk.

When you arrive

As soon as you arrive please check in at the self-check in kiosk or at the reception desk. If you need any help, please ask a member of staff.

Your visit

You may see a clinician or other healthcare professional depending on which service you have been referred to. There will be a nurse who will be able to deal with any queries you may have. To make best use of your time during the appointment think of any brief questions you may have before coming to clinic. Keep a note of these to ask during your visit.

You may be offered minor treatment during your consultation, which you have the right to decline if you wish. You can arrange another appointment for the treatment to be carried out.

Some examinations or treatment may mean you will be in hospital or at one of our health centres for 2-3 hours or longer. Please make arrangements for travel, childcare and time off work on this basis.

After seeing the clinician

If you need a further appointment you will be given a form to take back to the receptionist before you leave.

If you are going home by ambulance or hospital car, please tell the receptionist you are ready to leave. Every effort will be made to ensure a swift return journey. If you can organise a lift to and from the hospital yourself this would be appreciated.

If you are listed for surgery under a general anaesthetic, you will need to be assessed by a pre-operative assessment nurse. You will be given further information about this.

Please return any equipment on loan to you e.g. crutches, walking sticks, etc. to the department that gave them to you.

Your outpatient appointment may now be done by video consultation using Attend Anywhere. This enables you to be able to attend your appointment from home, saving you time and money.

Attending your video consultation appointment

AttendAnywhere is a web-based platform that allows us to offer secure video appointments to patients.

If you wish to cancel or reschedule your outpatient appointment, please contact the Outpatients Appointments Department. To speed up our response please have the following details available:

• Name
• Date of birth
• Appointment date
• Clinic
• Hospital or NHS number

If you need to change the date or time of your appointment, please call with as much notice as possible. If you wish to change the appointment a second time, we will not be able to offer you another date except in exceptional circumstances.

You can also amend your appointment details by interacting with our 7-day text reminder service for any appointments which are booked.

If you are unable to attend and have not informed the Outpatient Department, we will not offer you another appointment. We will write to you and your GP to tell you this. If you do still require an appointment, please contact your GP.

If you have booked hospital transport and cancel or reschedule your appointment, please cancel your hospital transport.

The Access Booking and Choice team oversees the booking for both outpatient appointments and the booking of surgery and procedures, the department works closely with clinicians and department managers to ensure capacity meets demand.

The Outpatient team receives an average of 300 calls per day and is open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday and Saturday 8:30am to 1:00pm.

The Admission team receives an average of 50 calls per day and is open from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday and Saturday 8:30am to 1:00pm.

The team also facilitate the emergency GP Direct line, when a GP is in surgery and needs an urgent conference call with a particular department, the team facilitate this call and then carry out the necessary actions.

The team is also responsible for a smaller booking team at Bolton One.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of your care or the service you receive in your outpatient clinic, please speak to a member of clinic staff as soon as possible.

If you are still not satisfied, please contact PALS (Patient Liaison and Advice Service) situated in the hospital’s main reception.

We listen carefully to what our patients say about their care and encourage you to take the initiative and question anything you feel may affect your safety or wellbeing.

Our Health Records Department is responsible for providing patient case notes at inpatient or outpatient attendances.

Information about you and the care you receive is recorded and stored in a health and care record.

This is so people caring for you can make the best decisions about your care. The information in your records can include your:

• name, age and address
• health conditions
• treatments and medicines
• allergies and past reactions to medicines
• tests, scans and X-ray results
• specialist care, such as maternity or mental health
• lifestyle information, such as whether you smoke or drink
• hospital admission and discharge information

If you wish to request your health records, please call 01204 390542