If your GP feels it is necessary to refer you to see a Consultant or other specialist, they will write to them detailing the history of your condition, any medication currently prescribed and the results of any tests or investigations conducted. A short summary of your medical history will also be attached.

The GP will prioritise your referral by noting whether your referral is routine or urgent. The referral is then processed by our medical secretaries.

Many of these referrals will be processed through the Referral Support Service (RSS) at Southgate House in Devizes. This is not a hospital or clinic and they will not be giving you your treatment. The service is there to make your booking experience a much easier and more personal one for you. The service can help you choose where and when you can have your treatment and book an appointment with you whilst you are on the telephone. If you have been referred via this service it will say so on the referral paperwork we send you.

If your referral isn’t being processed through the RSS, the specialist will determine how quickly you need to be seen and an appointment will be sent out to you from their team direct. If you have any queries relating to your hospital appointment, please contact the specialist’s secretary for more information.

Useful Numbers:

• Referral Support Service 0300 303 5048
• Royal United Hospital outpatient appointments 01225 821821
• Great Western Hospital outpatient appointments 01793 604080
• Salisbury District Hospital 01722 345543

If you need to cancel or rearrange your appointment, please contact the hospital or clinic directly to do so.

E-Zec

Patients who have a non-emergency medical need and require help with transport to reach their hospital appointment can apply to the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service provided by E-zec medical. The service runs 24 hours, 7 days a week. 

Call the Patient Transport Advice Centre on 01278 727425 between 08:30 and 18:30, Monday to Friday (charged at the local standard rate). Or click here to access their local website, which has lots of information regarding their services and how to book their servcies.

The NHS staff there will ask you about your needs and if you qualify, will book your transport with E-zec on your behalf. If you don’t qualify, they may be able to suggest alternative means of transport for you to get you to your appointment.

Link

Another option is the local Link Schemes. They are community-based, volunteer run charities based predominantly in Wiltshire which aim to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged, elderly or infirm people by providing transport and ‘good neighbour’ services.

Link schemes help to keep local communities connected to vital services, by connecting volunteer drivers (using their own cars), with passengers who have limited access to transport. Depending on volunteer availability, this can involve taking someone to a medical appointment, taking them shopping or providing ‘good neighbour’ services like prescription collection. You can contact the Melksham Link here.

If your doctor has referred you to a specialist for further care you will be asked to book your appointment using the ‘NHS e-Referral’ system.

You will receive a letter from us within 2 weeks giving details of how to book your appointment and any passwords you may need.

To track your e-Referral you will need the following details to log into the e-Referral website:

• Your date of birth
• Reference number – this will be on the first page of your letter
• Password – this will be on the second page of your letter

To track an e-Referral, click here.