As an Outpatient

• Please check
• Which hospital?
• How long will I be at the hospital?
• What to do if you cannot attend the appointment
• Change of personal details
• What to bring to the appointment
• Special needs
• On arrival
• Waiting to see the doctor
• Seeing the doctor
• X-ray, blood and other tests
• Other useful links

You have been given an appointment for an outpatients clinic.

Please check:

• Date
• Time
• Which hospital to attend

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Which hospital?

• The Maidstone Hospital
• The Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury
• Satellite clinics are held in a variety of other locations.

Your appointment letter will always tell you at which hospital your appointment will take place. If you are in any doubt please telephone the number on your appointment letter.

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How long will I be at the hospital?

Your appointment may take several hours if the doctor asks you to have other tests, so please allow plenty of time for your visit.

What to do if you cannot attend the appointment

If you are unable to keep your appointment for any reason, please telephone the appointments clerk on the telephone number shown on your letter or you can write to the hospital.

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Change of personal details

If you change address, telephone number or GP please inform the hospital as soon as possible. This is important, incorrect details can cause problems forwarding information to you or to your GP.

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What to bring to the appointment

• your appointment letter or card
• details of any medicines that you are currently taking. (packet, repeat list)

See the pharmacy pages for more information about types of medicine to bring - Pharmacy Outpatient Services

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Special needs

Please telephone the number on your appointment letter if you have any special needs or mobility problems. We may need to make special arrangements to ensure your visit is as straightforward as possible. Please contact the PALs office if you need information regarding access or the services of an interpreter.

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On arrival

Please report to the outpatient reception desk.

• Please try to be on time - patients who arrive too early or too late make it more difficult to run clinics to time
• Ensure that you inform the receptionist of any changes to your name, address, telephone number, GP or next of kin.
• If you cannot find you clinic area please ask a staff member.

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Waiting to see the doctor

We try to ensure that you are seen as near to your allocated appointment time as possible (in most cases this is within half an hour). The unpredictability of hospital routine may disrupt clinics and cause delays - please be patient with us.

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Seeing the doctor

Although the doctor named on your appointment letter is in charge of your care, you may be seen by on eof the team of doctors who assist the consultant. To help answer all your concerns you may like to bring a list of questions to ask the doctor when attending for your appointment.

We are happy for your relative/carer to attend your consultation with you. You may also ask for a chaperone to attend any examination.

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X-ray, blood and other tests

If your doctor decides that you need X-rays or tests you may be asked to stay at the hospital while these are done, or you may be given a special appointment on another day.

If you are not sure what is to happen please check with one of the nursing staff. We are here to help you.

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Other useful links

• Patient Transport
• How to get to the Hospitals
• Pharmacy
• Facilities

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