Patient choice – Public Frequently Asked Questions
The NHS in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin is offering patients more choice in response to national plans to give patients more control over their care.
This means that people can decide for themselves, from a range of available options, where they would like to go to receive their treatment.
In line with the NHS England Choice Programme, and linked to the NHS Choice Framework, the local NHS referral teams are already offering patients a greater choice of providers from a list of suitable NHS hospitals and will soon be offering a much wider choice by including a number of registered independent hospitals and providers.
The local NHS referral teams will talk people through the available options, at the point of referral, so that they can choose what is right for them.
From the end of October, we will also be contacting eligible patients who have been waiting over 40 weeks and haven’t received an appointment date within the next eight weeks, to invite them to consider requesting to move hospital to receive earlier treatment.
Eligible patients will be contacted directly by the NHS trust or independent sector provider they are currently under the care of. Please do not contact your GP practice or NHS hospital proactively regarding this offer.
Eligible patients will be provided with more information about the process when they are invited to consider their options.
For more information, please read our frequently asked questions.
When you are referred for a hospital appointment, we are already offering patients, where possible, a minimum of 5 possible providers to be seen at, from a list of suitable NHS hospitals, but we will soon be offering a much wider choice by including a number of registered independent hospitals and providers as well.
From the end of October, we will also be contacting eligible patients who have been waiting over 40 weeks and haven’t received an appointment date within the next eight weeks, to invite them to consider requesting to move hospital to receive earlier treatment.
If you are eligible to change hospital, you will be contacted by the local NHS, specifically by the hospital that you are already on a waiting list with.
If you are eligible but an alternative provider is not identified, you will be informed and will remain with your current provider.
If you are eligible, the NHS trust or independent sector provider who is currently overseeing your care will contact you.
If your request to change provider progresses, NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, as the organisation responsible for buying local NHS services, will then try and find an alternative hospital for you.
If you are eligible, you will be contacted directly, by email, phone call, text or letter, by the provider you are currently under the care of.
Please do not contact your GP practice or NHS hospital proactively about this offer.
We are establishing a good practice standard process where we would attempt to contact you two times in-hours and once out-of-hours.
Yes. Once you have been offered alternative provider options, you will have up to 24 hours to consider your choices.
You can use trusted NHS websites to carry out research before making a decision.
Your position on the current waiting list will not be impacted if a new provider isn’t identified and chosen.
As part of the process patients will agree to share their details.
At the point of consent for this pathway, there is a statement which advises you that you are consenting to sharing your information as part of this process.
In the majority of cases, the patient should be told if a new provider has been found or not within eight weeks of starting the process.
If a patient is not clinically appropriate to move they should be told within three weeks.
If an alternative provider is not identified, the patient will be informed and will remain on the waiting list with their original provider.
We are putting in place robust systems and processes, with NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin and hospital colleagues working very closely together, to enable patients to be tracked safely and securely.
No, you will be under the care of your chosen provider throughout your pathway of care until you are discharged. This includes any subsequent appointments.
Yes, alternative provision could be from any provider who has a contract to provide services to the NHS, has the capacity to see you sooner, and is within a certain distance of your home address.
There will be no additional cost to the NHS or you, as the patient, if you decide to use an independent sector provider.
No. Not all patients waiting over 40 weeks will be invited to request to move provider. Patients who have been waiting over 40 weeks and have an appointment date within the next 8 weeks will not be included as it will be quicker for them to remain with their current hospital.
In addition, there may be some patients whose clinical condition means that it would not be appropriate to move provider. This is particularly relevant to patients whose condition is clinically complex or if there is a surgical reason for the delayed appointment, i.e., needing to get your diabetes under control before the operation, or where you have deferred your appointment etc.
This offer only relates to patients on a consultant led referral to treatment elective pathway.
We are currently inviting patients waiting over 40 weeks and we will continually be reviewing progress.
No.
If changing hospital means needing to travel a further distance, some people might be eligible for non-emergency patient transport.
If you are not eligible for non-emergency patient transport but need help with the costs of travelling to hospital, you may be able to claim a refund under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme. You can find out more here Non-Emergency Patient Transport - NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin (shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs.uk) Each individual will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
No, the requirement is only to make every effort to seek an alternative provider to those waiting longer than a certain period of time and who meet other national criteria.
Yes. If a patient has been waiting over 18 weeks, they have the right to request to move provider.
This new offer relates to patients who have been waiting over 40 weeks, and meet the eligibility criteria, as they will now be contacted proactively and asked if they would like to move provider if one with a shorter waiting time can be found.
Nationally around 400,000 people have been waiting over 40 weeks and do not have an appointment in the next eight weeks. They will be contacted from 31st October.
Experience from previous workstreams around patient choice, and from information seen at the pilot sites, we know the vast majority of patients will want to remain with their local hospital.
As we work to reduce the elective backlog and ensure the longest waiting patients get the treatment they need, some patients may be able to be seen sooner if they are willing to travel to a suitable alternative provider.
No.
No. Both NHS Trusts and independent sector providers will be able to accept transferred patients.
Hospitals will only offer to take forward a patient’s care if they can see them within four weeks. They will not be prioritised over someone already on that hospital's waiting list unless there is a clinical need.
Where appropriate, clinical decisions will be made on whether the patient is suitable to be seen at an alternative provider for treatment. There are a number of factors that will need to be considered and this will therefore always be based on the individual’s circumstance and condition.
If an offer is made to the patient for a suitable alternative hospital, they can use trusted NHS websites to carry out research before making a decision.
Patients can’t specify a hospital they would like to go to. They will only be given an option to choose if they are offered more than one hospital as part of the process.
No, as an NHS England initiative, this is only available to patients registered with a GP in England and on a waiting list for a provider in England.
No, as an NHS England initiative, this is only available to patients registered with a GP in England and on a waiting list for a provider in England.
We are developing a process (an accreditation framework) which will allow new providers of certain services to apply to be listed with us and register their service on an online platform.
Once a new provider applies through our accreditation process, we will run all the necessary checks to ensure they are able to provide the service to a high standard and safely.
If they meet all our specifications and standards, they will be added to the list of providers available to our patients and registered on the framework as an additional available provider.
Hospitals have gone through their waiting list to identify and contact all eligible patients. Please do not contact your hospital.