Due to increased waiting times for outpatient appointments, GPs have seen a rise in patient requests to “expedite” their appointments. We urge all our patients awaiting hospital appointments to be patient and wait to be contacted.
As a GP surgery, we are not notified of any waiting times for clinics or provided with hospital hotline numbers. If your appointment has been delayed please contact your consultant secretary for any updates. If you are waiting for your first appointment with a consultant and have not heard for a long time, please contact the outpatient department in the first instance and then the consultant secretary. If you have been unable to contact outpatients or the secretary, please contact PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service):
Written Requests to Expedite Appointments
Patients are often requested by the Hospital to obtain a letter from the GP so their appointment can be expedited.
Please note that waiting a longer time for an appointment does not deem your request urgent. According to figures from NHS England, a total of 5.8 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of September 2021, the highest since records began in August 2007. As a result, we are unable to write letters to expedite your appointment for this reason.
If you are experiencing worsening of your symptoms, we advise you to contact your specialist directly so they can assess your condition and make the necessary arrangements if an expedite of your appointment is appropriate. If you have difficulty in accessing your consultant, we advise you to contact PALS for assistance.
However, if the hospital are insistent they require a letter, we have created the below templates for you complete.
If you are not being seen at Princess Alexandra, St Margaret’s or Herts & Essex Hospital please download the template letter below, completing your details and symptom change. You will only be able to edit the areas highlighted in yellow.
Once you have completed this, you can post your letter to Outpatient Appointment (first appointments) or your consultant secretary (booked appointments or follow ups).
Please do not complete the above template letter if you are being seen by any of the 3 hospitals below.
Expediting Appointments at Princess Alexandra, St Margaret’s or Herts & Essex Hospital
Please visit the below link to check The Princess Alexandra Hospital waiting times:
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust – My Planned Care NHS
Please download the template letter below, completing your details and symptom change. You will only be able to edit the areas highlighted in yellow. Once completed, please email your form to [email protected] or if you have been sent a link to respond to via text messaging, please send this to us via the link.