If you are waiting for a hospital appointment, unfortunately your GP practice cannot speed this up. If your condition is worsening, please discuss this with your specialist so they can decide if you need to be seen sooner.
You can also contact the hospital’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
Expedite Form
If you feel your appointment needs to be expedited, please download the 
“Two Week Wait (2ww)” Referrals
If you have a two week wait referral and haven’t heard within the timeframe, please contact the practice.
Dear Patient Hospital Appointments – Waiting Lists:
The COVID Pandemic has meant that many hospital appointments and procedures have had to be postponed or rescheduled. We understand that this may cause considerable anxiety, and we are finding large numbers of people contacting their GP practice to chase up where their referral is up to.
Unfortunately, GP practices have no access or influence over hospital waiting lists. Some people are being advised by administrative staff at hospitals to get a letter from their GP to expedite their appointment. In the vast majority of cases, we have been advised that this rarely results in the hospital being able to bring this forward. Hospital specialists have asked that patients and GP practices avoid contacting them to try and expedite appointments.
We have been advised that each department has a robust process in place to prioritise their waiting lists, and hospital colleagues are working as hard as they can to get through the backlog. If you are waiting for an appointment or procedure, our local hospitals have advised that they will contact you as soon as they can. GP practices have been specifically advised not to submit additional or duplicate referrals, even if patients request this, as this is causing additional delays and confusion in processing all referrals.
Only if there has been a significant change in your symptoms should you contact the hospital to inform them of this change. We have provided a template overleaf that you can complete and send back to the hospital advising them of any change in your symptoms, or any other extenuating reason that you feel your appointment should be prioritised. Please complete this form and we will email it to them, but you can also complete by hand and post to them. In the event of a sudden change in clinical condition that is potentially life threatening, please contact the practice or NHS 111 in the first instance.
Yours sincerely The Clinical Team
Mill Hill Surgery