There may be occasions when your GP may recommend a referral to a specialist or another service for further investigation or advice. This may be from a range of community services or a hospital.
Your GP will discuss with you, and if appropriate your carer, about why a referral is being recommended. It is usually because a GP wants a specialist’s help in deciding on the best way to treat your condition. This might involve referring you for tests or investigations that cannot be carried out in the GP surgery.
You will have the opportunity to discuss with your GP, what choices there are for where you can be referred. You may be given a password and code to access an online system to manage your appointment on a national system called the electronic referral service.
The practice has a policy that any referral will be done within 7 days from when you see your GP and in some cases there may be a process to triage the referral at the hospital before they will agree to make an appointment for you. We will do everything we can to ensure your referral gets to the correct person in a timely manner and with the correct information.
Please note once the referral has been sent, we cannot access hospital systems and if you wish to chase your referral you will need to contact the person or hospital you have been referred to.
Some useful links:
Queen Mary’s Hospital – https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/contact-and-find-us/
Ealing Hospital – https://www.westlondon.nhs.uk/our-services/our-locations/ealing-hospital
Charing Cross Hospital – https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/our-locations/charing-cross-hospital
You can also read more on hospital wait lists and what to expect here: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/guide-to-nhs-waiting-times-in-england/
Please click on the following link for further information about what you can expect to happen when your GP refers you to see a specialist or consultant, at a hospital or community health centre.
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/referrals-for-specialist-care