Why taking control of your healthcare can improve your experience – and your recovery
In England, approximately 350,000 people are referred by their GP for specialist care every week and, according to the NHS e-Referral Service open data dashboard, there were almost 1.8 million referrals made in January alone. While we might expect to be referred by default to our local hospital, we actually have a legal right to choose where we’re treated. Taking ownership of our healthcare can make things easier on a practical level, but it is also empowering and some studies have even shown it can improve patients’ outcomes.
Here, we explain what options you have, what happens at your GP appointment, and the factors to consider when making your decision and taking control of your care.
How it works
In England, if your GP or other healthcare professional suggests you need to be referred to hospital, in most routine (non-urgent) cases you have the right to choose the hospital or provider you’d like to go to. Your GP can give you options of where to go, depending on what’s most important to you. As well as NHS hospitals, the options you’re given could include independent providers that provide services to the NHS, at no cost to you. You can make your decision then and there at your appointment, or ask that the list is made available to you so you can take the information away and mull it over at home.
Being referred to a specialist can feel daunting. There’s a lot to take in – and taking the time to process it and think through your options before committing to the next stage can help you to get a grip on the situation and really understand what’s involved.
So that you have complete control of your care, your GP practice can provide you with details to access the list online or via the NHS App. You can then choose your desired hospital on the NHS App, online, or by calling the national referral helpline.
If there are no appointments available to book, the hospital will contact you to arrange an appointment. It’s important to know that you can take that time to make your choice and you shouldn’t feel rushed into committing, as normally the provider you choose for your first appointment will go on to provide the rest of your treatment.
Things to consider
For many people, choosing where to go will come down to three things – being close to a support network of friends or family, having an easy journ
