Outpatients

Referrals

For a new patient appointment, a child's GP or paediatrician can arrange an initial appointment by sending a letter, fax or calling the department. Urgent referrals can be discussed with any gastroenterology team member.

We do our best to schedule children according to their medical need. We aim to see all new patients within 5 weeks of receiving their referral.

 

 

Your child's appointment

You will be sent a letter asking you to call to arrange the date and time of your appointment.

If you are then unable to attend, it is important that you let us know as soon as possible. Please call the number on your appointment letter so that we can give your appointment to another patient waiting to come to clinic.

 

 Alternatively, you can request that your appointment be changed using our online form:

> Rearrange or cancel clinic appointment

 

To make your child’s clinic appointment as productive as possible please keep the following in mind:

• please arrive 15 minutes earlier than your scheduled appointment
  
  
• allow plenty of time for parking and locating the clinic if you are unfamiliar with its location.
  
  

Finding Clinic 6 (Outpatients)

The children’s clinic is Clinic 6, which is in the outpatient department on the ground floor.

 

The most convenient parking is found in the patient and visitor main hospital car park:

> Maps

 

 

From the Outpatients entrance: go through the Outpatients reception area. Turn left, passing the WRVS coffee shop on your right. Follow the corridor past the lifts and the blood centre. Clinic 6 is at the end of the corridor on the right hand side.

> Finding us - Parking ticket discounts

 

 

For your outpatient visit please bring the following:

• reports of investigations carried out at other hospitals or by the GP in relation to your child’s compliant
  
  
• current list of all medications your child is taking and a summary of medications your child has been placed on related to his/her complaint
  
  
• parent held child records including growth charts (as appropriate)
  

The first visit is mostly a consultation with one of the doctors. You should prepare your child for a physical examination, and we may request your child have blood tests, a urine sample and/or x-rays during this visit. Any further testing that needs to be done is usually arranged for another day. Your child may eat their normal diet on the day of the first appointment.

 

Specialty clinics:

Clinic	Day
Paediatric gastroenterology clinics IBD clinic IBD transition clinic	Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri Thurs Wed (3 monthly)
Nurse led IBD clinic	Thurs
Nurse and dietitian led coeliac clinic    Nurse led constipation clinic	Tues (2 weekly) Tues / Fri  (2 weekly)
Paediatric hepatology (liver) clinic	Tues
Hepatology outreach clinic (King’s College Hospital)	Tues (3 monthly)
Hepatology / IBD transition clinics	Tues (3 monthly)
Joint paediatric surgery / gastroenterology clinic	Mon / Wed (Monthly)

 

 

Cancellations

If you plan to cancel an appointment please do so as soon as possible and at least 24 hours in advance so that we may use the time slot for other patients.

> Rearrange or cancel clinic appointment

 

 

If running late

Please make every effort to keep your scheduled appointment. If you are unable to do so, it may result in a delay in our ability to see your child. If you need to cancel/reschedule an appointment, please call as soon as possible so we can offer that appointment to another child.

 

If you are more than 30 minutes late for your appointment you may be asked to reschedule your appointment or be asked to wait until the end of the clinic.  Please call the clinic on 01223 216 410 / 216 321 to find out if you are still able to be seen. You may be asked to rebook the appointment, or if time allows your child may be able to be seen at the end of clinic.

 

 

Missed appointments

About 1 in 10 families miss their appointment without notifying us. Not only does this waste clinic and admin staff time, but other children must wait unnecessarily for their follow up appointment. If you miss an appointment without letting us know, we cannot give your appointment to another child.

 

If you do not attend your first clinic appointment, we will inform you and your GP about the missed appointment. If your child still needs to be seen, your GP will have to send us a new referral letter to reschedule a new-patient visit. If you do not attend a follow-up visit, we will remind you and your GP by letter, but will not automatically rebook a further appointment. If your child still needs to be seen, please contact the clinic directly to arrange a further appointment.

 

 

Follow-up and letters

 Follow-up appointments will be made as appropriate to your child’s need by the team member seeing your child. Where possible, follow-up will be shared with your local paediatrician / GP.

Letters will routinely be sent to the doctor who referred you to our service, with a copy also going to your GP. If you do NOT wish certain health professionals to be copied into your letters, please let clinic staff know.

Families should receive copies of all clinic letters / correspondence. If you do not wish to receive copies of these letters please let your doctor / nurse know.

If you would like non-clinical information to be sent to you via e-mail, please ensure you sign a specific e-mail consent form in clinic. Please ask the doctor or nurse about this during your child’s visit.

 

 

 

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