We are extremely busy in our emergency department so please use our services wisely.  In emergency and life-threatening cases continue to come forward as normal or call 999. 

However, if you are unsure about where to go, please call NHS 111 before coming to our emergency department who can best advise you on your next step.

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Outpatient waiting times

Once we receive your referral from your GP, it goes through a process called ‘triage’ where we look to see the best way forward for you.

The three options at this stage are:

  • To send you for an appointment with a doctor/ nurse or other specialist for you
  • To send you for more testing, such as X-ray, MRI scan or other testing
  • To send advice and guidance to your GP and allow them to lead your care

For an appointment or testing, you will be contacted as soon as possible to offer you an appointment for the soonest time available. You will receive a confirmation letter of your appointment, which will tell you the day, date and time of the appointment. You may be asked to attend hospital for a face-to-face appointment or a virtual clinic, either over the telephone or using video calling technology such as Zoom.

We have a more detailed waiting time guide (in the table below) for the different departments and conditions. We aim to update this table on a monthly basis to make sure you have information that is as current as we can possibly provide.

Your specific waiting time will depend on your personal circumstances, your health, and the department that you need to see.


What to expect if you’re referred to us.

We have developed a short leaflet to give you some guidance on what to expect when you’re referred to us.  This link takes you to our patients and visitors web page.  What to expect if you're referred to us

 

Waiting time to first outpatient appointment at April 2023

Specialty

Clinic Type

Current wait time (Weeks)

Colorectal

Routine

33

General Surgery

Routine

3

ENT

Routine

29

Voice

33

Dizzy

0

Ophthalmology

Retinal

6

General

0

Paediatrics

21

Occular Motility

22

Oculoplastics

9

Glaucoma

4

Corneal

5

Cataract

21

Orthopaedics

Shoulder & Elbow

32

Hand & Wrist

30

Hips

9

Knees

25

Foot & Ankle

28

Paediatrics

42

Plastics

General

5

Urology

Routine

56

Vascular

Routine

42

Cardiology

Routine

0

Dermatology

Routine

60

Paediatrics Routine

27

Endocrinology

Routine

8

Gastroenterology

Routine

13

Hepatology

Routine

35

 

 

Nephrology

Routine

0

Neurology

Routine

8

Pain Management

Routine

36

Respiratory

Routine

19

Rheumatology

Routine

0

Gynaecology

General

36

Menopause

44

Peri-menopause

0

Vulval

37

Uro-gynae

42

Hysteroscopy

10

Paediatrics

General

22

Cardiology

19

Respiratory

19

Allergy

26

For more information click on the specialty name in the table which will take you to the relevant page on our website.


What to do while you are waiting

For advice and practical support to help you and those you care for stay well while waiting for surgery, visit:

Suffolk and North East Essex Wellbeing Support Services (sneewellbeing.org.uk).

 

What to do if your symptoms get worse

If your symptoms get worse while you are waiting for your appointment, test or operation, you should contact your GP or NHS 111 for advice.

For more information about the services that we have, please see our Services pages