Information for your visit to Outpatients

We are committed to treating our patients within 18 weeks of GP referral. While this is not always achievable given current demands, we are working hard to address this. You can help us to provide treatment as quickly as possible by:

  • Contacting us as soon as possible using the phone number on your appointment letter if you are unable to attend or no longer need an appointment. Letting us know in advance allows us to offer your appointment to someone else. If you do not come to your appointment and do not cancel in advance, a clinician will review your records and may transfer your care back to your GP.

  • Talking to your GP about your referral so that you know what to expect and making yourself available to attend once you have an appointment

  • Making sure your GP always has the correct contact information for you and checking this with hospital reception staff or the self check-in kiosks at each outpatient visit. 

Your appointment

Your letter tells you if you appointment is face to face in person at the clinic, a phone consultation or a video consultation.  

You might find it helpful to prepare some questions or write a list of things you’d like to discuss during your appointment.

If your appointment is a face to face at the clinic, please arrive no more than 15 minutes before your appointment time. We aim to see you at your appointment time, but the nature of healthcare and individual needs sometimes leads to significant delays in the waiting room. This might be up to 2 hours on rare occasions, so please plan for this. 

Communication needs

If you have any special communication needs or a disability that might not seem immediately obvious, please let us know before your appointment so that we can make arrangements to meet your needs at your appointment and in follow-up communications. Communication needs might include providing an interpreter or information in an alternative format. Call us or email using the contact details at the top of your letter, as soon as possible.

Travelling to your appointment

If your appointment is face to face, please plan your travel to arrive in good time.

If possible, please use public transport to come to your appointment. You’ll find travel information in the getting here section of our website and maps of our hospitals.

Our car parks are managed electronically by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, which record all vehicles entering and leaving the car park. Please make sure you read and comply with the signs in the car park, otherwise you will receive a parking charge.

Drivers can pay on arrival using the mobile phone app PayByPhone. This also lets you extend your parking time from your phone wherever you are in the hospital. Alternatively, you can pay at the machine on leaving – simply enter your registration and it will tell you how much to pay.

Help with health travel costs

You can get financial help with the cost of travel to receive NHS treatment or NHS diagnostic tests, if you are receiving certain qualifying state benefits. For information on which benefits qualify go to the health travel costs page on the NHS website  You can claim a refund within 3 months of your appointment for local bus travel or be given a mileage allowance if coming by car. If you needed to pay the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) charge, you can also complete a form which we send to TFL who refund it to you (see below). To claim your travel costs, please take your travel receipts, appointment letter or card, plus proof that you're receiving one of the qualifying benefits to 

University Hospital Lewisham

General Office, Ground Floor, Admin Zone. The entrance is on Lewisham High Street, to the left of the Ambulatory Care Centre.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital 

Cashiers Office, Main Entrance area, opposite Reception.

Blue Badge parking for people with a disability

Blue Badge holders can park for four hours in the Blue Badge bays but need to register at main reception areas each time you park. 

  • At Queen Elizabeth Hospital, you can register at main reception, Outpatients reception, West entrance, Emergency Department and the Dolphin entrance.
  • At University Hospital Lewisham, you can register at main reception, Riverside reception, phlebotomy (Suite 1) and physiotherapy (Blue Zone) reception. 

You can register when you arrive, when you leave, or any time between. Please ensure that your Blue Badge is clearly displayed in the windscreen. If the Blue Badge bays are full, you can park in the public car park, but you must always display your Blue Badge and register at a reception area.

Being dropped off or collected?

If you need to be dropped off or collected, there are signposted drop-off areas. The driver must stay with the vehicle at all times when dropping off or collecting. 

If you have difficulty standing or walking far and need wheelchair assistance to get to your clinic, when you arrive. Please ask reception at the main entrance for a porter.

Patient transport service

To use the non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS), please call HATS on 020 3929 4088 and answer a few simple questions to check your eligibility. If you are eligible for NEPTS and your appointment is changed, either by you or the hospital, please call patient transport to rearrange the transport. 

Medicines

Please bring all your medicines in their original containers with you, including those you have bought yourself, such as herbal remedies. 

Entitlement to planned NHS hospital treatment

NHS treatment from GP practices is free of charge to all. While emergency hospital care is free to all, most planned hospital care is only free for people who are living lawfully in the UK on a properly settled basis. We are required by law to check the residency status of all patients referred to the Trust. You may be asked to provide evidence to confirm your residency status and entitlement to free NHS treatment. If you have any concerns about your entitlement to free NHS treatment, or have any objection to the checks being made, please ask a member of staff to contact the Overseas Department and someone will discuss your situation with you.

No smoking

All NHS healthcare settings are smoke free to protect the health of all patients, visitors and staff. If you want free help to stop smoking please ask to be put in touch with our Stop Smoking team.

Feedback

We aim to provide high quality care for every patient. If you would like to contact the Trust about any aspect of your care, please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) office: 

University Hospital Lewisham, pals.lewisham@nhs.net or phone 020 8333 3355 

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich, pals.qeht@nhs.net or phone 020 8836 4592.