Your Outpatient Appointment

Before Your Appointment

Please tell us in advance of your appointment if you or your family have any particular requirements e.g. a disability or you need for an interpreter, and we will do our best to help.

Cancelling or checking your appointment

If you need to change or cancel your appointment for any reason, please let the department know as soon as possible so that your appointment can be given to another patient. The relevant contact details should be in your appointment letter, if not then please contact us via our main switchboard on 01752 202082 or our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team who should be able to advise.

For your appointment

Things to bring with you

appointment card or letter (if you have one)
A list of any tablets or medicines you are taking
enough money for prescription charges, telephone calls, refreshments and car parking
income support/family credit book if you are receiving benefit and want to claim travelling expenses
your diary dates or special arrangements (such as holidays) which might affect your future appointments or treatment
a book to read in case you have to wait (or a quiet toy for a child).
any questions you want to ask the doctor/nurse/therapist

Please do not bring anything of value.

If possible, please bring only one relative or friend with you as space in the waiting area is limited.

When You Arrive

There are signposts to all Outpatient Departments.
There are volunteer Hospital Guides at the main reception desk on level 6, who can show you to the clinic.
View our floor maps for Derriford hospital

At the outpatient clinic

Please book in with the clinic receptionist. You will be directed to your waiting area.
Please remember to tell us if you have changed your name, address or your General Practitioner (GP). We need to record these details to update our records and to ensure that we can contact you or your GP if necessary.
Patients are seen in order of appointment time, rather than in order of arrival to the clinic.
We do our best to run the clinics smoothly and to schedule. Sometimes appointments are delayed. This is usually for a good reason, and clinic staff should always tell you why a delay has occurred. If you have any concerns please ask at the reception desk.

When you see the doctor

This may be your only chance to ask questions about your condition. It may help to think of questions before you come to the clinic and write them down.
Outpatient visits may involve some simple investigations and tests. We will discuss these with you.
If you think you may not be able to remember what is said to you, please ask for the information to be written down.

Medical students

Derriford is a teaching hospital, which means we train healthcare professionals. We allow students to get involved in the treatment and care of patients so they get practical experience.

Please tell your doctor or nurse if you don’t want students to be involved in your care. Your care won’t be affected in any way by your decision.

When You Leave

Please go back to the clinic reception desk before you leave the hospital.

Filming and Photography

We recognise that mobile phones and other devices, such as tablets and laptops, are essential to maintain communication with friends, family and loved ones; especially so whilst you are in hospital. However, the use of these devices to make audio recordings or take photos and videos can pose a risk to the privacy and dignity of our staff and other patients.

We have a duty to protect the confidentiality of our patients and the privacy of our staff.

The following points are taken from our Audio and Visual Recording Policy which also includes examples of behaviour both acceptable and unacceptable.

Please do not take any photos or videos or make any audio recordings in public areas such as corridors, lifts and waiting areas.
In wards and clinic rooms, if you wish to take photographs or record audio or video please speak to your clinician or a member of staff before starting any photography or recording.
Where any photos or recordings are made, please do not capture any other patients, visitors or staff without their consent.
If a member of staff has reason to believe that inappropriate images or recordings have been made without the explicit consent of those involved, we may ask to check your device and ask that this material is deleted, including any related social media posts.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Boots outpatient pharmacy

Important update for patients: Boots Outpatient Pharmacy (25 April 2024)

Thank you all for your support in the launch of our new Boots Outpatient Pharmacy service. We recognise there have been some teething issues using the new service with Boots and want to thank you for your patience whilst we work through these. We experienced some initial delays from medicine suppliers and a critical IT failure during our first week, which has made the transition particularly challenging. However, we are confident these issues will be resolved in the coming weeks as we move into a new Outpatient Pharmacy Service.

We have also noted there have been some queries around collecting from other local pharmacies. Unfortunately, this is not currently possible as many hospital medicines are specialist and therefore cannot be obtained from your local pharmacy. All medicines are dispensed at the Boots outpatient pharmacy on site and delivered to your local Boots store. You can choose to collect from the Boots outpatient pharmacy (on-site) or from an approved list of nearly 20 local Boots community stores (in approximately 48 Hours). The list of local Boots stores will be reviewed regularly, and new stores may be added. Please give sufficient time for your medicines to be delivered.

We hope that the new Outpatient Pharmacy on site and the ability to collect from a list of nearly 20 Boots community stores, will make collecting prescriptions easier for patients.

Infographic with instructions to collect medication

From 2 April 2024

If your doctor says your medication is urgent for today:

Your prescription will be emailed to Boots.
Why not have a coffee while you wait?
If you have shared your mobile telephone number, you will also receive a text message when your medication is ready to collect.
Your number will show on a screen in the hospital main concourse or Boots outpatient pharmacy when it is ready.

If you do not need to collect your medication today:

Your prescription will be emailed to Boots outpatients pharmacy to be dispensed. You can choose to collect from the Boots outpatient pharmacy or from an approved list of nearly 20 local Boots community stores* (in approximately 48 Hours)
If you have shared your mobile telephone number, you will also receive a text message when your medication is ready to collect.
Please note, there is no routine courier to home service available, except in certain circumstances which will be documented on your prescription.

Opening hours

Monday to Friday - 8.30am until 6pm
Saturday - 9.00am until 2pm
Sundays – closed.
Bank Holidays – 9.00am until 4pm (excluding Christmas Day)

Contacting Boots outpatient pharmacy

Telephone number for UHP patients (external) 01752 237930

Location

Boots is located next to multi-storey car park which is a short walk from the main entrance. Please follow the signs.
If you have difficulties with mobility, there is a shuttle bus which can collect you from the main entrance.
If you need to break up your journey there is some dedicated seating outside the Orthopaedic outpatient department, halfway between the main entrance and the Boots store.

Parking

If you are parked in the multistorey car park, Boots is on the ground floor, next door to Costa.
There will be two dedicated bays close to the Boots store allowing pharmacy customers to park for enough time to pick up their prescriptions.
In addition, there is dedicated parking for disabled customers in the multistorey car park.

*We are reviewing approved local stores on a monthly basis to amend the list as appropriate.

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