NHS referral service
If you have been referred for more treatments or tests, you can check on the referral using the NHS website or App. You will need a letter of referral from your GP if you would like to see a private specialist or consultant.
Following Up Referrals, Appointments, Results and Hospital Correspondence
We understand that waiting for a hospital appointment, test result or referral can be frustrating, particularly when you are unsure what is happening.
We will always make sure that we have completed any action required from the practice. However, once a referral, appointment, investigation or treatment has been passed to a hospital or other healthcare service, there are often things that only that service can tell you or arrange.
If a referral is already in progress then, where possible, we ask that you contact the relevant hospital or healthcare service directly.
This can often be the quickest way to get an update and means you can speak directly to the team responsible for your care.
If a referral has been made then you will see this in your NHS app as a referral letter, or request to radiology investigation. If more than 2 weeks has passed since a discussion with a clinician and agreement to refer and you cannot see the referral then please contact us by email to secretaries.combedown1@nhs.net. For fast track referrals , these should be visible in your NHS app after 48 hours- please contact us earlier for these if you cannot see the referral in your app.
If you cannot connect with your medical records in the NHS app, you will need to speak to one of our reception/care navigation team (telephone or attend reception desk).
NHS referral service
If you have been referred for NHS treatment, tests or an appointment, you may be able to check the progress of your referral using your NHS account or the NHS App.
You will need your NHS account login details to access this service.
Check a referral on the NHS website
You can also find more information about referrals and hospital appointments on the NHS website:
Find out more about referrals and appointments
Private referrals
If you need a referral to a private specialist or consultant, you may need a referral letter from your GP. Please speak to your insurers first, and/or the admin/secretarial team if you are unsure what is required.
Request for or enquiries about private referrals where you have already seen or spoken to a clinician can be sent to secretaries.combedown1@nhs.net. If you have not seen or spoken to a clinician yet, then please fill in a triage form giving as much details as possible. Sometimes our clinicians can make a private referral without an appointment, sometimes they will need to see or speak to you first.
RUH/other Hospital appointments and referrals
If you are waiting for an outpatient appointment or have questions about a referral that has already been sent, please contact the relevant hospital department directly.
The hospital team can usually provide the most up-to-date information about:
· when you are likely to be seen;
· the status of your referral;
· appointment availability;
· changing or rearranging an appointment; and
· questions or concerns about your hospital care.
If you are waiting for an appointment at the Royal United Hospitals Bath (RUH), information about current waiting times and how to contact individual departments is available on the RUH website.
If you are waiting for an appointment for physio with HCRG, you can find their contact details here.
Test and investigation results
If a hospital or specialist has arranged a test or investigation, they are normally responsible for reviewing the result and explaining it to you, including any further treatment or follow-up that may be needed.
If you are waiting for a result from a test arranged by a hospital or specialist, please contact the department or clinician who requested the test in the first instance.
If your GP has arranged the test, the GP practice will be responsible for reviewing the result and contacting you if further action is needed.
Please allow time for correspondence to arrive
After a hospital appointment, investigation or procedure, it can sometimes take several weeks for results, clinic letters or other correspondence to reach the GP practice.
If you have recently attended an appointment or had a test, please allow a reasonable amount of time for the hospital to review the information and contact you before asking us to chase it.
If you are concerned about a delay, contacting the hospital department directly is usually the best first step.
We will still help when you need us
We appreciate that not everyone is able to contact hospital services themselves.
Please let us know if you need additional support because, for example, you:
· have significant difficulties with your mental health;
· have memory or cognitive difficulties;
· have communication difficulties;
· are frail or otherwise vulnerable; or
· have already tried to contact the hospital or healthcare service but have been unable to get a response.
In these circumstances, we will consider how we can support you.
If you are unhappy with a hospital service or delay
If you have tried to resolve an issue with the relevant hospital department and remain unhappy about the service, communication or delay, you can contact the hospital's Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) for help and advice.
What we will do
Before asking you to contact another healthcare service, we will make sure that there is no outstanding action required from the GP practice — for example, we will check that a referral has been sent where appropriate.
Our aim is to make sure you are given the right information and support while ensuring that you can speak directly to the healthcare team responsible for your care.
If you genuinely need our help to contact the secondary care team, we will do our best to support you.
We cannot routinely contact secondary care services on behalf our patients to chase referrals, as this takes our admin team away from the work they need to do in the practice processing referrals, emails and contacts received from outside agencies and supporting GPs in their work.