Face-to-face appointments

Coming to our hospital or community centres for appointments 

We have started to invite families for face to face appointments where it is not possible to provide care virtually. We are arranging appointments based on who has waited the longest, as well as those children and young people whose care is more urgent as assessed by our clinical team.

We will continue to provide virtual appointments wherever possible, and we have had lots of positive feedback over the past few months from families and staff about these appointments, although we continue to learn how to offer this in the best way for everyone. If you have been offered a virtual appointment this will have been done in agreement with your clinical team.   

If you and your child have been invited to come in for a face-to-face appointment at our hospital or one of our community sites, we are taking some extra steps at this time to make sure you and our staff are safe. This includes having gaps between appointments and fewer clinics on within a building, and allowing only one parent or carer to come with a child to their appointment. This means we have less people in our buildings and we can stay safe by keeping apart.

If you have been contacted about bringing your child for a face-to-face appointment, a specialist doctor has considered the risk of your child coming to the appointment, against the risk to their health as a result of a delayed diagnosis or treatment. We want you to come to the appointment and would like to reassure you that we are doing all we can to minimise any risk.

Find out more about the extra steps that are in place and what to expect when you arrive for your appointment.

Arriving at your appointment

Please be aware that your journey may take longer than usual so please allow extra time to get to our hospital or community sites. However, please try not to arrive at the department more than 10 minutes before your appointment. In order to comply with social distancing requirements, we are staggering our appointment times and significantly reducing our waiting space. If you arrive early, you may be asked to wait outside the building. Please be aware there might also be times when you have to queue and wait.

What happens when you come for an appointment

• As we are limiting the number of people visiting our hospital and community centres, you will be asked to show proof of your child’s appointment when you arrive at the entrance. Please remember to bring along your appointment letter.
• To keep the number of people in our buildings as low as we can, we have changed our visiting policy to allow only one parent or carer to come with a child to their appointment. We also ask that you do not bring any other family members, including siblings, to our hospital or community sites.
• All staff and visitors need to sanitise their hands with hand gel provided. Find out more about maintaining good hand hygiene. 
• All adult staff and visitors should follow the Government guidelines about face masks and social distancing wherever possible.
• You may be asked to put on a face mask if you are not already wearing your own face coverings. Masks will be provided when you arrive. Please continue to wear a mask if you are less than two metres from another person. For more advice, visit the Gov.uk website.
• It is important to keep a safe distance from other patients, and from staff where possible
• Please follow any signs which explain where to wait and queue safely.

You may also be asked to:

• show your appointment confirmation before being allowed to enter our buildings
• follow the one-way system at entry and exit points
• walk on the left in main corridors
• use the stairs rather than the lifts if possible. We’re limiting the number of people using our lifts and prioritising those who need them more, such as those with disabilities. 

Some of these measures may mean that you and your child need to queue at peak times. 

Information about specific face-to-face appointments