Welcome to the Choose and Book page
Follow this link if you are a healthcare professional wanting to find out more about our Choose and Book system.
(Please note if you are not connected to the NHS network you will be unable to view the link)
Choose and Book is an electronic booking system designed to improve the experience for patients needing a hospital attendance.
The system acts as a link between the GP computer system and the Hospital computer system to -
- Allow the GP to see which kind, and how many appointments are available in chosen Hospital Trusts across the country
- Give the patient choice of where to be seen, not purely dependent upon the location of the Hospital, but by the Hospital's waiting times and available services.
- A reduction in administration time as patient's details are moved between the two systems and not re-entered manually (when a request for an appointment is entered on to the system by a GP, it is immediately visible to the chosen Trust, foregoing postal delays, clinical details are then added by the GP).
- Better information to the patient using a central booking office ('the appointments line' (TAL)) and access to appointment times, dates and location information online.
- More control by the patient, as appointments can be changed online or via the TAL service to accommodate the patient's needs.
It should be noted:
Although the patient can choose any Hospital Trust within the country that is listing appointments on the Choose and Book system, a patient should expect to be able to be seen locally within a reasonable time (13 weeks) for a first appointment in the majority of general medical conditions.
A patient must be willing and able to attend at the Hospital with reasonable (3 weeks) notice of an Out-Patient appointment/Day Case or In-Patient attendance in an 18 week period from referral (please note that the period of reasonable notice is reduced for Urgent or suspected cancer referrals).
If a patient refuses 2 reasonable offers of an appointment, they will be discharged back to the care of their GP.
A patient does not choose a Hospital, but a Trust, so as an example a patient should be prepared to attend with Colchester Hospitals Trust equally at its sites in -
- Colchester
- Colchester (Lexden Road site)
- Clacton
- Halstead
- Harwich
