Before my appointment

It is important that you attend your Outpatient appointment(s), for your own health as well as that of other patients. Patients who do not attend (DNA) Outpatient appointments across our hospitals have a direct and potentially serious impact on the length of time that other patients have to wait for their care. Your missed appointment could have been given to another patient.

Failure to attend your appointment without informing us may result in you being returned to the care of your GP. Another appointment will not be offered automatically. Changing your appointment on multiple occasions may result in you being returned to the care of your GP to ensure the safe management of your condition.

For some appointments we use a combination of text and automated voice reminders which will contact you seven days before your appointment to remind you of the hospital, date and time you should attend. You will be able to confirm attendance or whether you would like to cancel or rearrange your appointment.  Ensure that your contact details are correct to take full advantage of the service. 

Before you attend any appointment, it is helpful to think about the questions you want to ask and what is most important to you about how you live your life. For example, this might be things like being able to get back to work, doing simple jobs around the home or being able to look after someone else. It can be helpful to make a list to take to your appointment.

Three questions you might want to ask are:

1. What are my options?
2. What are the possible benefits and risks of those options?
3. What help do I need to make my decision?

When waiting for appointments, we encourage our patients to use this opportunity to 'wait well' by maintaining their physical and mental health. To help you do this, we have put together a list of helpful local and national resources.

Visit the 'waiting well' page for more information.

.

Please read your appointment information carefully, as it may ask you to bring certain items with you (such as a urine sample, your spectacles or any questionnaires you have been asked to fill in prior to your appointment, depending on the type of clinic or appointment). Remember to bring with you your appointment letter, information and any medication you are taking.

Before setting off for your appointment, please check your appointment letter for the date and details of where to go when you arrive at the hospital. Please remember to check which hospital you are due to attend. 

For full details of the transport options, travel refunds and concessions and car parking information visit Getting here

If you need information in an accessible format, it's important that you read and complete the Support for patients with specific communication needs leaflet before your appointment and send this to us. This can be accessed via the link below.

Please don’t worry if you don’t have access to a printer, our reception staff will be happy to provide you with one when you attend your next appointment.

Support for patients with specific communication needs.pdf[pdf] 192KB

You can also access further information about the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) on our MY Purple Promise webpage. Alternatively, please contact our AIS Champions at midyorks.mypurplepromise@nhs.net.

Please bring a note of your medication, including the name and dosage of the medicine(s) you take, as well as any questions you want to ask, to all your Outpatient appointments. 

Please read the the following regarding Covid-19 measures at our hospital sites before attending your appointment.

PF6376d A4 COVID-19 Attending a hospital appointment V4_.pdf[pdf] 103KB