Hospital Expedite Letters

Letters to Hospital Clinics/Consultants

Due to increasing waiting times for hospital outpatient appointments, general practitioners have seen a rise in patient requests to speed up or “expedite” their appointments.

As a GP surgery, we are not notified of waiting times for specific clinics or provided with hospital hotline numbers.

• If you are waiting for your first appointment with a consultant and have not heard for a long time, please contact the hospital’s outpatient booking office through the hospital switchboard in the first instance and then the consultant’s secretary. Please note that waiting a long time for an appointment does not make your request urgent. As a result, we are unable to write letters to request an earlier appointment.

• If your appointment has been delayed, please contact your hospital consultant’s secretary for an update.

If you have been unable to contact outpatients or the secretary, please contact the hospital PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service). Contact details can be found on the hospital website.

Hospital requests for a letter to expedite appointments

Patients are often requested by the hospital to obtain a letter from the GP so their appointment can be brought forward (expedited).

If your symptoms are getting worse, we advise you to contact your specialist directly so they can assess your condition and make the necessary arrangements if an “expedite” of your appointment is appropriate. If you have difficulty in accessing your consultant, we advise you to contact the hospital PALS department for assistance.

However, if the hospital is insistent that a letter is required, we have created the templates below for you complete. Letters to expedite an appointment are generally best written by the patient rather than by a GP providing information from medical records.

Letter for a first appointment with a specialist

Dear Consultant,

I am awaiting care from you for <write your original problem here>. I have been referred by my GP at Sandy Lane Surgery/St Peter’s Medical Practice.

I await an appointment and / or treatment but report the following change in my condition since my referral was sent to you:

<Explain briefly what has changed since your referral>

I request that you take the following action

• Review my hospital notes alongside this letter to determine whether my care might be expedited
• Contact me directly to inform me of the outcome of that decision, and my likely wait for further care
• File this letter and document your decision in my medical record

Letter for a follow up appointment

Dear Consultant,

I am receiving care from you for <write your original problem here>.

I await a follow up appointment and / or treatment but report the following change in my condition since your last contact with me:

<Explain briefly what has changed since your last contact with the specialist>

I request that you take the following action:

• Review my hospital notes alongside this letter to determine whether my care might be expedited
• Contact me directly to inform me of the outcome of that decision, and me likely wait for further care
• File this letter and document your decision in my medical record

Once you have completed this, you can post your letter to outpatient appointment (first appointments) or your consultant secretary (booked appointments or follow ups).