Virtual appointments

Telephone and video appointments

You may be invited to have your child’s next outpatient appointment over the phone or a video call.

This aims to save you time and money, as you will not need to travel to our hospital or a community site. It may also benefit you if you find it difficult to travel, or if you feel more comfortable talking about your child's health in your own home. It also means less time off school and work.

Your child may need to have investigations done locally to you before the appointment, for example blood tests or height and weight measurements. We'll let you know in advance if we need you to do this and how to go about it.

After your appointment, the clinician may refer your child for tests which might mean you need to attend the hospital for further investigations or an examination in person. The clinician will advise you at your appointment and will make sure your GP is informed.

Telephone appointments

We'll send you a letter or email and a text message with details of your child's telephone appointment, including the time and date.

You can also see the details of your child's appointment using our patient app, MyChart, if you have proxy access for your child.

Our clinician will call at this time and date on the phone number we have for you in our system.

We try our best to call you at your appointment time. Occasionally there might be a short delay if our clinician needs to spend a little longer with another person.

Telephone calls may be from our Trust number (020 7188 9613) or the number used to call may be withheld. Please note you are unable to return calls to this number.

If you miss the call, the clinician will move onto the next patient and then try to call you again at a later time. If you were unable to answer or do not receive a call within 1 hour of your appointment time, please contact the department number on your clinic letter.

Video appointments

Getting set up

You can use a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone for your video call. Just make sure it has a webcam, microphone, speakers or headphones and a reasonable internet connection.

It’s a good idea to test everything’s working a few days before your appointment. If you’re worried about having a video call, contact the service that your child's appointment is with.

Telling us about your needs

Please tell us if you need any support for your video call, such as accessibility requirements.

Your environment

Wherever you have your video call with your child, make sure it's quiet, private, and well-lit.

If you're using a smartphone or tablet, it's a good idea to prop it up on a table or use a stand so your hands are free.

If a video appointment has been booked for your child, you will receive a text message confirming the details including the date and time. Please note that this will not include a link to join the call. Please ask the team that your child's appointment is with if you'd prefer to receive a letter or email. You can also update your communications preferences on the MyChart app if you have proxy access for your child.

We'll send you a link to join your video appointment by text message 24 hours before your appointment, and again 1 hour before it's due to start.

Follow these steps to join:

A couple of minutes before your appointment is due to start, click on the link we sent you. This will open up Microsoft Teams. You do not need an account and you do not need to enter any information.
You might need to wait for your clinician to join the call and greet you and your child. Please be patient, as sometimes they might run late.
At the end of your appointment, your clinician will end the call. We'll send you any information you need afterwards, or arrange a follow-up appointment if your child needs one.

If the connection drops out

If the call disconnects, try re-joining the call by clicking on the link again. The clinician will also try to reconnect. If this cannot be done by video, they'll try to call the phone number we have on your child's record and continue the appointment by telephone.

Please make sure the contact details we have for your child are up to date.

Internet and data usage

The video call is free (except for your internet usage). A video call uses a similar amount of data to Skype or FaceTime.

How your data is used

No part of the online video appointment is recorded or permanently digitally stored.

The medical outcomes of the appointment are recorded and stored as part of your child's patient records held by the hospital. This happens in the same way as for face-to-face or phone appointments.

Some personal information is stored on the computer being used. It is important to know this, particularly if you're using a public or shared computer.

Security and privacy

Video calls are secure. Your privacy is protected. You have your own private video room that only you and authorised clinicians can enter.

Video consultations are securely encrypted. It's your responsibility to have anti-spyware and anti-virus protection on the computer or phone you use for your video appointment.

If you are using a smartphone, this may be only as secure as any other phone call on that mobile network.