Children's Community Nursing Service, Richmond
A telephone appointment is the same as a face-to-face appointment, but conducted over the phone instead of at the hospital or community clinic.
Telephone appointments
If we have given you a phone appointment, do not come to the hospital as you will not be seen.
Why we have offered you a phone appointment
As part of our work to improve services, we are increasing the number of clinic appointments delivered by phone.
This is to improve patients’ experience by reducing the need to take time off work, travel to and park in the hospital, and navigate around an unfamiliar environment.
Your health professional has reviewed your condition and decided that it is safe for your hospital appointment to take place over the phone.
What will happen
Your hospital appointment letter gives you the appointment time.
The health professional delivering the appointment will call you as close as possible to your appointment time. The number might appear as ‘no caller ID’ or a number you do not recognise.
The health professional may call early if preceding appointment moves quickly, or later than your appointment time if preceding appointments over-run (just as might happen in a face-to-face clinic), so prepare for this.
They will call you on the phone number we hold in our hospital records. If you want to check this, call your hospital department using the phone number on your hospital appointment letter.
Do not call or text the number that the health professional calls you from for your phone appointment. This number is only for phone clinic appointments.
How to prepare
Make sure that:
- You are available to speak to the health professional and that your phone is loud enough to hear when it rings.
- You have a list of your current medicine(s) and any documentation relevant to your condition or appointment.
- You have pen and paper ready to write down any notes.
- You are somewhere quiet where you can talk privately.
- You are in a location that has a good mobile phone signal if we are calling your mobile phone.
- If a family member, friend, or carer usually comes with you to your hospital appointments, ask them to be with you for your phone appointment. If you have a speaker phone facility on your phone, use this.
If you cannot hear the health professional clearly
- Tell the health professional straight away.
- If there is a different number which they can call you on, tell them.
- The health professional may offer to call you at a different time.
If you miss your appointment
- The healthcare professional will attempt to call you up to 3 times and then, if possible, they will leave a message saying that they have phoned you.
- They will then decide on the next step, which could include re-booking your appointment or discharging you back to your GP. Contact your hospital department if you have any concerns about this.
If the healthcare professional does not call you
If the healthcare professional does not phone within 1 hour of your appointment time, call the hospital department concerned using the number on your appointment letter.
If you need an interpreter
We can arrange for an interpreter to be on the phone call with your health professional.
Ask a family member or friend to phone the hospital department at least 3 days before your appointment and tell us which language your need.
If you think a telephone appointment is not appropriate
If you have difficulty communicating by phone, ask a friend or relative to phone your hospital department to discuss alternative options. (For example if you have hearing loss, a learning disability and/or autism.)
Contact information
Telephone:
Contact your hospital department using the phone number at the top of your appointment letter.