Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals has welcomed the extension from 1st April 2008 of the patient choice initiative.  Any patient receiving routine elective treatment will now be able to choose from any NHS approved hospital provider in England.   Trust Chief Executive Paul Bentley says:

“Last month (February 2008) 2,600 referrals – 51 per cent of the patient referrals into Ashford and St. Peter’s hospitals were via the national Choose and Book system supported by the NHS Choices website.    NHS Choices allows GPs and patients to make the initial arrangements for their consultation at the hospital.    GPs can book direct from their surgeries or patients can phone a central booking centre to make their arrangements.   This all means that patients can arrange an appointment at a time and on a date to suit them.   This is good for patients and reduces the number of patients who fail to attend their appointments.

“Here at Ashford and St. Peter’s we have made it possible for referrals to be made by specialty to allow the widest choice of appointments or to a specific consultant to enable continuity of care.   Our dedicated Choose & Book manager and GP Liaison Manager ensure that the information on NHS Choices is kept up to date and any problems GPs have are resolved quickly.”

“We are pleased that so many patients and their GPs already use the Choose and Book system and NHS Choices to select Ashford and St. Peter’s as their hospitals of choice.”

Patients who need more information about NHS Choices and the options open to them can visit the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk.  The process for making a  choice about hospital treatment is:

1.         Check your choices: Your GP will let you know which hospitals or clinics you could attend.

2.         Compare hospitals on the NHS Choices website for information to help you make your choice.

3.         Talk it through - Discuss your choices with family or friends.  

4.         Book via;

·          your GP practice (where this service is provided), or

·          the Choose and Book website – https://www.healthspace.nhs.uk, or

·          telephone on 0845 608 8888.