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Your appointment or admission 

If you have been referred for an appointment or are to be admitted to Fordcombe, Maidstone or Tunbridge Wells hospitals, we will contact you to arrange a date. You may be able to book your appointment with the NHS e-Referral Service – see below.

NHS e-Referral Service

If you have been referred by your GP for an appointment with a healthcare provider, you may be able to book your appointment with the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS).

Most services are available via e-RS. You can choose the date and time of your appointment and your GP may be able to book your appointment there and then. However, you have the right to think about your choices, compare different options and book your appointment later.

If so, you’ll be given an appointment request letter, which includes your unique booking reference number, NHS number and a list of hospitals or clinics to choose from.  You’ll also be given a password, which allows you to book your appointment over the phone using The Appointments Line (TAL) 0345 6088888 or online.

e-RS also gives you the ability to:

  • plan and manage your appointments around any existing appointments, if you are currently undergoing treatment
  •  fit your treatment in with your other commitments, at home and at work
  • choose appointments that fit with your carer’s schedule
  • check the status of your referral and change or cancel your appointments easily, either over the phone or online

Cancelling or changing your appointment or admission 

We understand there may be times when you can’t attend your appointment. Please let us know as soon as possible so your appointment can be given to another patient.

You can register for our patient portal and join over 125,000 patients using the tool to manage outpatient appointments. You’ll be able to access outpatient appointment letters, see outpatient appointment details and access online information and resources about your care. This means being able to amend and cancel outpatient appointments online instead of calling, and get notifications about upcoming and newly-booked appointments.

You can call our dedicated phone lines during Clinical Administration Unit office opening hours: 8am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.

  • Head & Neck – 01622 228218
  • Surgery Breast, Urology and Pain – 01622 228220
  • Trauma & Orthopaedics – 01622 228221
  • Women’s & Children – 01622 228222
  • General Medicine, Rheumatology, Neurology, Care of Elderly, Respiratory, Diabetes and Cardiology – 01622 228219

Calls to our Clinical Administration Units are recorded for quality and training purposes.

Do you need an interpreter?

If you need to use an interpreter when you visit one of our hospitals for an appointment or procedure, please contact the number on your appointment letter to arrange this and give as much notice as possible. This includes people needing British Sign Language and Hands On/Hands Over interpreting.

Appointment reminder service

Our appointment reminder service will automatically:

  • phone you seven days before your appointment to tell you when and where your appointment is
  • offer you the opportunity to change or cancel your appointment
  • send an SMS text reminder to you if you haven’t responded to our call, if we have a mobile number for you
  • phone you the day before your appointment to remind you

Please make sure we have your phone number so we can remind you when and where your appointment is. This can be a landline number. If you wish to receive text alerts please give us your mobile phone number. You can do this by one of our dedicated appointment numbers listed above.

If you do not want to get an appointment reminder you can opt out of the service by contacting the dedicated appointment numbers or talking to a member of staff when you next visit one of our hospitals. You can opt back in at any time by contacting us.

If you have a question about your appointment or admission, please contact the Clinical Administration Unit using the telephone numbers above. Please remember the Unit manages appointments only and cannot give you medical advice.