Waiting for an NHS Follow-Up Appointment? What Usually Happens Next

What should happen after your appointment

During your appointment, you and the healthcare professional agree a plan for your ongoing care. The NHS website explains this might mean another appointment with the same team, with another specialist, or with your GP.

If you need another appointment, you should get a letter, text or email about it. The NHS website also says you should get a summary letter a couple of weeks after your appointment, setting out what was discussed and the next steps; that letter is usually copied to your GP. If you do not understand the letter, contact the hospital, clinic or your GP.

Can't find your appointment details

How follow-up care is arranged now

NHS England describes follow-up care as increasingly tailored to each patient's clinical needs, circumstances and preferences, rather than automatic appointments at fixed intervals. Its recognised models include patient initiated follow-up (PIFU), where you arrange an appointment when you need one; remote monitoring, where the clinical team acts on information from monitoring; and personalised timed follow-up, where the next appointment and interval are agreed with you during the appointment itself.

These models can be combined, and which one applies to you is a local, clinical decision. There is no national rule for how long a routine follow-up should take to be booked, so we cannot give you one.

What PIFU means and how it works

Why nothing may have arrived yet

A follow-up that has not arrived is usually an administrative state, not a clinical decision. Common reasons include the clinic outcome letter not yet being processed, the booking request sitting in a queue before a date is allocated, a letter being in the post or only visible in the NHS App or your hospital's patient portal, or the team intending to book closer to the time. Some patients are also placed on PIFU without the arrangement being clearly explained to them.

Do not read a missing follow-up as proof either way. It does not by itself mean you have been discharged, and it does not by itself mean you are on PIFU: PIFU should be agreed with you and explained. The only way to know is to check.

If an appointment has disappeared · How appointment booking works

Does the 18-week standard cover follow-ups?

The 18-week referral-to-treatment standard covers the wait up to the start of your first definitive treatment: the RTT clock stops when that treatment starts. Routine follow-up appointments after treatment has started are outside that clock, so the 18-week right does not set a deadline for them. A referral for a new condition starts a new pathway.

If you are not sure whether you are still on an RTT pathway or have moved to follow-up care, ask the hospital to explain your status.

What the 18-week right gives you

What to do now

• Check your clinic or outcome letter for what was agreed about follow-up and any named contact.
• Check the NHS App and your hospital's patient portal, if your hospital uses them, for letters or a booked appointment.
• Ring the clinic or your consultant's secretary. Have your NHS number or hospital number and the date of your last appointment ready.
• Ask three things: has a follow-up been requested, has it been booked, and am I on PIFU or another arrangement where I arrange it myself?
• If the answer is that you arrange it yourself, ask for the exact contact route and how long the arrangement lasts.
• If you cannot get a clear answer from the department, the hospital's Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help informally.

Using PALS

Who to contact, in order

Start with the clinic or consultant's secretary named on your letter, then the hospital switchboard asking for that department, then PALS. Your GP practice will usually have a copy of the clinic letter, but it cannot book hospital follow-ups for you.

This guide explains administrative processes only. If your symptoms change or get worse while you wait, contact your GP, NHS 111, or the clinical team named on your letter.