Appointments

There are two central booking offices, one in Antrim Area Hospital and one in Causeway Hospital , that coordinate the outpatient, endoscopy, inpatient and daycase booking functions for the acute hospital sites. These offices provide patients with their appointments and procedure dates.

Attending an Outpatient Appointment

If you are coming to one of our hospitals as an outpatient, the following information will ensure the process goes smoothly.

Please check which hospital your appointment is at, this information is on your appointment letter. Keep the letter to hand – you will need it if you ring us and you should bring it to the hospital when you attend.

If, for any reason, you are not able to keep your appointment, please tell us as soon as possible so that your appointment can be given to another patient.

If you change your GP, home address or telephone number, please contact us so that we can update our records.

All appointment and procedure dates are booked in line with regional guidance ‘Integrated Elective Access Protocol’ 30 April 2008:Integrated Elective Access Protocol 

Cancelling or Changing your Appointment

·         Cancellations by you

We know that sometimes there are good reasons why people can’t make their appointments, but it’s important that you let us know as soon as possible if you cannot attend or no longer want your appointment.

If you cancel two consecutive outpatient appointments you may be discharged to the care of your general practitioner (GP). If you still require an outpatient appointment, you will then need to ask your GP to re-refer you back to the hospital.

If you fail to attend your outpatient appointment without informing us in advance you may not be offered another appointment and will be discharged to the care of your GP.

If the consultant feels it is important for you to attend the clinic, you will be sent another appointment but please remember missing an appointment could mean also missing out on important medical treatment or having to wait longer than you should for treatment.

• Cancellations by us

We regret that, due to medical emergencies and unforeseen circumstances, we may sometimes have to cancel appointments. If this does happen, we will arrange a new appointment for you as soon as possible.

Appointment Confirmation / Reminder Service

In order to reduce the number of missed appointments, a free appointment reminder/confirmation service is in place. By providing reminders to our patients it reduces the number of missed appointments. Missed appointments cost the health service millions of pounds every year.

• How are the reminders made? 
  Reminders are made using an automated telephone call or text message.
• What should I do when I receive my text reminder :
  Follow the instructions in the text message.
• Do the calls cost me anything?
  No, the service is completely free of charge.
• What if I do not wanted to be contacted?
  We hope patients welcome this service, however, if you prefer not to be reminded about your appointment, you can opt out by informing the contacting one of our booking offices.