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Patient Journey
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Are you sitting at home, worrying about painful joints, or the loss of strength in your joints or your decreased mobility?

Have you been to your GP, to be told that you have arthritis?

Have you suffered an injury playing a sport and need help?

Have you been talking with friends who have had a procedure and their life has been drastically improved?

It doesn’t matter where your starting point is, once you have made a decision to do something about it, then SWLEOC staff can help you. Below is a summary of the usual route into SWLEOC but if you are unsure of the process, or would like further advice do not hesitate to contact us on Tel: 01372 735800 

Summary of what happens next...

If you are a patient registered with Epsom & St.Helier, Kingston, St.George's or the Mayday hospitals; following discussion with your GP:

  • You will be referred to the EOC or your local hospital Orthopaedic Consultant.
  • You will attend an outpatient appointment at you local hospital or directly at SWLEOC. 
  • The Consultant will add you to his waiting list for surgery at SWLEOC  
  • Within 2 to 4 weeks (for routine cases) a scheduler from SWLEOC will call you to book your surgery date and pre operative assessment date.
We have a number of the surgeons profiles at the link below for your information. 
  • If you are not registered with the five main hospitals referring to SWLEOC, or have moved home since previous surgery and would like to have your future surgery at SWLEOC let your GP know. You may also contact us directly for advice on becoming a new patient.
  • If you have a special condition and have information about a specialist surgeon who works at SWLEOC, let your GP know your preference. As long as you and your family members are willing to travel, then this could still be an option.
  • If you have done some homework and have a consultant in mind to whom you would like to be referred, mention this to your GP.

Your GP will write a referral letter to the consultant who will accept you onto his waiting list for an outpatient appointment. Once it has been agreed between you and your Consultant that surgery is your optimum treatment, then he (she) will add you to their waiting list for surgery at SWLEOC. (This referral is simply a letter to the schedulers at SWLEOC, from your Consultant which allows them to put you on the waiting list for surgery). The date from which you start waiting is the date on which the hospital receives your GP referral . Currently, Government guidelines state that you will wait no more than 18 weeks for a Routine operation and considerably less time if you are considered to be an Urgent case.

For routine cases you can expect a call from your Scheduler, who are your main point of contact and will plan with you, your Pre-operative Assessment at the Centre and most importantly, the date of your Surgery. If you have planned a holiday during this time, or have a doctors appointment for another condition, or simply are not sure about the surgery, please contact your scheduler as this may affect your position on the waiting list. 
 
For further information about your journey once you have been given a date for your pre assessment and operation please click on the following link: Patient Journey